Aadel Collection
Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
UN iTED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL V t 2 / - U' ) / Distr. GENERAL E/CN.4/1984/21 9 December 1983 Origin 1: ENGLISH rH_ - - - - CO 1ISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fortieth Session Item 10(b) of the provisional agenda QUESTION OF THE HUnAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO ANY FORN OF LJETENTION OR INPRISONMENT, IN PARTICUISR: OUESTION OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES Report of the Woridng Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances .. — CE.34—15QO -
E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 41 . . III. INFORMATION. CONCERNING ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES . IN SOUTH AFRICA AND NAMIBIA : 109. In its three previous reports, the Working Group has informed ‘the” Commission about enforced or involuntary disappearances in South Africa and Namibia, the cases transmitted to the Government of South Africa and the South African legislation on the matter.!' . . ; . . . . . A. Cases transmitted to thd Government of South Africa . South Africa , . : .. 110. Since the extension of its mandate in 1983, the Working Group has transmitted, by a letter dated 16 December 1983, one case of an enforced or involuntary disappearance which reportedly occurred in South Africa to the Government, together with a request for any ii formation the Government might wish to send. The case concerns a student and member of the Congress of South African Students .(COSAS) who was detained for ffiv'e months after he had been ‘ arrested during demons;r.ations in Port Elizabeth in 1981. U on his release from detention, he was admitted ; to a hospital. Adcording to the information received. . by the. Group on this case, medical tests at th hospital showed that he had ‘been poisoned.. OEe student then tiled charges againIIt the Minister of Law ‘and. Otderj together with a demand for compensation regarding the ill—treaSent to which'he had'beensubjected while in.detention. After he returned to the h'o' pital, ‘ . C accompanied by a friend, both men reportedly disappeared. . . . . Ill. Prior to the present extension of its mandate, the Working Group transmitted to the Government of South Africa reports regarding three disappearances. in that country. A non—government organization in consultative status w .th the Economic ?x d, oc .al Council provided details obtaihed from relatives' on these three instances qf enforced or involuntary disappear nceS in South Africa which occurred in 1976; 1977 and 1978. Three ‘nIIn were arrested' by the South African authorities on th ' basis of the various ri tional security . . provisions referred.to below. OEeir'families were told that they had been releas d”b' the authorities; but the three men were”never”seen .again..afte'r._their arrests. Despite repeated requests by the Group for information on these cases, no response from the Government has been received. Namibia , . . . . 112. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has transmitted one . ‘ report of an enforced or involuntary disappearance which allegedly occurred in Namib'ia. A non—governmental organization in cohsult tive status with the ‘‘ Economic and Social Council reported that the person was one of 25 arrested' . , together in August, 1980 by security forces. because they were suspected of' ‘ assisting SWAPO guerrillas. The report contained thII further information ‘that ‘ . relatives had initiated legal action bef re th Windh'oek Supreme Court in order 1/ E/CN.4/l435, paras. 175—183; E/CN.4/1492, paras. 158—163; E/CN.4/198a/14, paras. 96—100.
E / CN. 4/19 84 / 21 page 42 to clarify the pers.o..n'.S.tate. According to information they had received from the police, one person had been abducted or killed by the gu r'rillas. A witness, however, stated that•.,the person had died under torture while in detention. .. . ,. . : . . . ‘‘ 113. In its earlier repdrts, the Working Group re ie,w d the i iforpdtion received in connection with the adjournment of a h'earing'OEy th Wi'ndh6ek'Su'Preme : Court with respect to the.applicationbY the . i s'of, three men about the fate of their husbands whom they claimed had been detained by South African farces. That information was transmitted to the Government of South Africa in a letter da d,21.'December 1980 with the Group's request for any information which the Government might wish to supply. Despite the renewal of' that reqqest in 1981 and 1982, no response has been received. . 114. In ;its,ear).i reports, the Working Group also dealt with infprmation to the effect. that, the South Afripan ‘authorities had detained person r in ‘ . ,,. , neighbouring: ,c6un rie:s , transported them to Namibia and, by refusirrg;.tO , . acknowledge the detentions, effectively caused those persons to dis pear. The ‘ particular case mentioned 9 oncerned about 120 people detained at,Kassiflg .iI' . ‘‘ Southern ngo1a during a raid.3n May 1973 by South African forces; t. isc'tho ght that'they..are being hel4 at a camp,, near Hardap. Darn in Namibia. According' no ‘ ‘ information available to the Grou these persoos were held under the So uth We t Africa Administrator General's,(Pr9 lamati0t Act AG9, although it only allows detention without charge for 30 days. Again, no response has been rec iv d from the South African Government. . . ‘ , : B. Legal ProvisionS . . ‘ 115. In chapter IV of the Working Group”s fi st report,1' anr. ttemPt was made ‘ to set out those parts,.of re1 vant statute's wh i'ah led to the,cqr cluSiOfl that ‘ South Africa's law prov.i,ded for “a persoji to b detained by th po,lice'aga&flSt . his uill not only incommunicado, but without his relatives being entitled to arty information at all “ The Group's analysts of the legislation then n force was published and the South African. Government has been persistently invited _to comment on,whethe,'r that analysis and those conclusionII” were accurate and comprehensive. ‘ ‘ . . • 116. In the meantime, the Commission on Security Legislation, under the chairmahslt'Lp of Chief Justice Rabie, has made its report. A new statute.-d'n_ ‘. internal security entitled the Internal Security Act (No 74 of 1982), has since been introduced and repeats much of the earlier legislation referred to in the Grou ' first report, however, the definiton of “terrorism” in section 2 of the Terrorism Act (No 83 of 1967) quoted in paragraph 176 of the Group's report is n&t reproduced; ‘The new Act contaihs' ew'IIndextensiv 4efi tion! ‘df terms'' such as “communism” on the basis of which criminal offences are formulated and freedom of association circumscribed; these are, however, of no eievande :to the Working Group's mandate. What concerns the Group is the extent to ‘which it' t i's still possible for persons to be secretly detained by virtue of laws adopted foltowing strictly Parliamentary procedures. 2/ E/CN.4/1435, paras. 175—177.
E/CN.4/1984/21 page 43 I ; . ,‘ ., -‘ .- ‘ ; -:.- . . . 117. The new Act has the affect of' repeating much of the earlie provisions but with amendments which are significant in the present context. First, persons identified by the executive as being of a subversive character may be restricted. so that they must rem in in, or must not go to, certain specified places . (sectiort l9) - Second;;. certain peisons maybe detained in pr.fsdn on the. , . authority of the executive'if'iL- is -boa idered that-such detention will .p e,yenr . . the comniission of certain offence-s or the endangeidng of the sacurityof the Stat -or the maintenance of law and-order (section 28). . . . . .‘ .‘ .J . 118 ‘Furtherr ore access, to the res.tricted or detained petsons is prohibited : and no-one is entitled to receive official information.relating to or .obtained : from such'a-persoffi. ‘--There is a statutory board of review, independent of. Governineat and at present composed -of ..a retired Supreme Court-Judge, a retired ,.• Regional Court Magistrate.;- and a. pract.ising attorney, which has substantial', . . ,, powers of intervention-- on behalf of- persons subject to, sections. - p ,28., The provisos to sections 19(1) and 28(8) also grant stat-utory..assurance of;acceas. tq the person concerned by his Legal representative (provided that. the Legal ‘ representative is not--also ‘on -the -list”).- -The .Group -.unders-tands t.hi to mean that - pe}s-on subject- to-these measifres may at ].aas- se theae provisos t ... , inform his family of his detention, or restriction, and of-his whereabouts 119;- Twb subse uent sections, however,- ‘enable per ons. to be, d:etained h3o'rder . of the executive, apparently with greater possibility of being held ineoinmuriicado. Section 29 allows .for.che 4eten io.n of personp;.for ixiterrogation - - for a period bf 3O days- initially and subsequen .tly.fQr.succe .iy period ” ‘, . . without limit. Section 31 deals similarly with potential witnesses to the commission of certain specified security offences, although there is a limit on , such detention, which is determined by the conclusion of the criminal .:, “ - - prod diffigs toncerning- the principal accused person, or the, failure to charge that person within six months During oetention, however, the person under interrogation-or the witness may only be visited by;,an Inspector.of Detainees ‘ and tnkist be seen once a fortnight. in private by a magistrate. and a district ,,. ‘ - surgeon; the courts are expressly deprived of jurisdic ionto orderth F a? of either ‘category. of person. . -:-‘ : -- .. - - , - ,. .- - . - - - 120 The 1982 Act does not LnCicate the e.ctenL (if any) to which persons ,- detained brrestricted.-under -the four,- seflio i,s,men ipi ed. above maybe bIe ‘to ) inform their r 1atives of their whereabouts. Whilst the, legal representatiy& . may, unde sections 19-and. 28,, he able to- convey.at least, this minimum-of -- - essential information-, sections-. 29 and 31- are silent, on the point. , . . . . valuable for the Working Group to have information about the 1982 Act ‘ ‘ unfortunately the material, has-arrived -too late for the full implications, rel'eva t to'the Group's mandate, to ba-properly explored. Nor has it been possible to investigate the extent to which the Police amendment Act, 19b0, ‘as well as other legislation, effectively precludes relatives from knowing t hat has happened to persons arrested for subversive activities.
E/CN.4/1984/2 1 page 44 . . . I V. OTHER REPORTS OF ENFORCED OR INVOLIOETARY DISAPPEARANCES DEALT WITH IN VARIOUS WAYS bY THE WORKING GROUP Angola 121. During its eleventh session the Working Group reviewed reports received from relatives and a non—governmental organization concerning five persons who allegedly disappeared in Angola in mid—I977. The occupations of the missitk persons were that of administrator, electrical engineer and government official, political leader, physician and Protestant priest. Their nationalifles were either &n olan or Portuguese. Family members reported that the arrests of their relatives were made by the Popular Defence Organization (P 1 ) 0) and the Angolan Information and Security Services (DISA). One person was reportedly arrested at home and the family of another had contact with him ihprisOn. Various sources reported to the relatives that some of the m had been taken to specified police stations or detention centres, others were reported to have been transferred from prison to a labour camp or an unknown destination. / ,. . . 122. In accordan e with established practice the Chairman wrote to the Government of Angola on 28 October 1983 informing it of the Group's mandate and humanitarian purpose. In a letter of 31 6&ober 1983 •the Chairman, pursuant to the Group's decision, transmitted the information on the cases described above to the Government, with a request for any inforinat 0n the Government might wish. to submit. The.Government of Angola was in ited to end a representative to the twelfth session of the Working Group and to provide any information it wished at.. that session. To date no response has been received from the Government. Brazil . . 123. In 1981, the Working Group transmitted to the Government of Wrazil reports:-. received from relatives concerning seven cases of disappearances which allegedly occurred in Brazil between 1970 and 1974.!” Three of the missing persons..were students; the others were a teacher, a computer programmer, a puolic employee, and a member of the Navy.. Some reports included information from former prisoners or unofficial confirmations ihdicating that the missing person was held by the authorities. The Government reported that three of the missing C pers r s had been tried in their absence by I Iilit ry courts and t.hat with regard to thedthars, no criminal records had b en di c9vered. The Gaverninent also stated th:at in o t t case the State had been f und respoiisible. fo the disappearance by- the court of first instance, that the relatives' right to compensation had been recognized and that the judgement had been appealed. . . . 124. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has renewedits request for any further information which might b cdme available; in particular with regard to those reports which contained specific statements that a person it E/CN.4/l98 3 /l 4 , paras. 102-104-
E/CN.4/1984/21 . page 45 had been detained in certain localities, the Group requested information on any progress which might have been made in following up those statements. In a letter dated 3 June 1983, the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations at Geneva stated that it had not yet been possible to determine the whereabouts of the persons reported missing in Brazil. Nevertheless, the elements provided by the Working Group concerning those persons continued to be taken into account by the Brazilian Government and any information which might result from the ongoing research would be duly communicated to the Jorking Group. 125. In' a letter dated 10 November 1983 the PerIIanent Representative of Brazil'' ' to the United 1 ti'on Office at Geneva reported that there had been no new developments in th situation and that the appeal made against the judgement mentioned above was IItill pending in court. ‘ . ‘ ‘: Chile . . . .‘ ‘ 126. In 1981, ‘the Working Group brought to the attention of the Government of Chile r pb t t}i t t wd' Chilean nationals who were preparing to enter Chile with false docWnent' ti-ow badt ‘beeti a rest d oi , 19 February 1981 on the . Chilean—Argentinebo rder.V No re pon e has been received from the Government on these cases. : - . . ‘ 127. The Working Group has been concerned since its first session with the protection of persons ho submit information on enforced or involuntary disappearances to it. In that connection, the Chairman of the Working Group addressed a letter to th Permanent RepresentatiVe of Chile to the: United Nations Office at Geneva,'on 12 August 1983, in which he referred to teports received by the Working Group that Ms. Cecilia Rodrfguez, a member of the Executive Committee of the Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Disappeared—Detainees (FEDEFA1I), had been arrested on 2 February 1983 as she was boarding a flight to Europe. The Chairman pointed out that FEDEFAN had provided the Working Group with information about enforced or involuntary disappearances and that the Group had been-'informed' that one of the purp6 es bf Ms. Rodriguez 1 trip was to see that further information was --received-- by the Group. OEe Chairman expressed the Working Group' concern about the matter and said that the Group would be grateful for ati iriform ion the Government might wish to send. ‘ ‘ . 128. In a: Iette* dated 20 September 1983 the Petmanent Representative of Chile to the -Uhited Natiohs Office t Geneva acknowledged receipt of the above mehtioned letter and stated that the competent national authotities had taken due note- of its contents. The P rmanent Representative informed the Group's Chairman that Ms. Rodriguez had been unconditionally released by the Court of Appeals and that she was at liberty. - 2/ E/CN.4/1492, paras. 63—64.
E/CN.41l984 12l page 46 RevolutionarY. People's Republic of Guinea 129- Since its est bflshment,: the Wprking GrQup has transmit ed to the. : ‘ Government of' the Revolutionary Peppie- s Republic of Guinea infortnatip-t. rec eive4 . from relatives conc rning the di appearan e.Of eight.persons.in . , missing person -s iere arrested at homes at military premises, at their work place or at a. police-border control station; iu- same cases the arrest was witnessed by... one. or more persons. . :. , . in.: In 1982 -thaWorking' Group whs informed..: that? the, relatives h. 4 received a statement from the Europe-an Parliament- -to the effect tha;t the Qovernrn nt . . Guinea'had- repbr-ted that seven of the missing persons had..be n;eX.ec CL ,g 0ne had escaped. The relatives pointed out that this in p natioti, was vag/i,e, go , exact dates were given, and that three of the persons were reportedly executed prior to the date of their arrest. The relatives also reported that the :- Government of France had received different information on these cases from the . -,Government of Guinea: from that given-to the date of .. execution was different in four cases and in nne .a ..the . Go.vernrr nt of Guine had reported that the person had escaped from.?ti.scp in, 1971. . in tact,, that person had -been' Hea.d.'of the Private. Office (Chef de Cabin t) of. the tnniste .f.o Foreign Affairs throughout 1971 and up to August 1972. - : 131. OEe Wbrkif' Group has repeatecily• on acted the Government of the ‘ , . , , Revolutionary People's Republic of Guirte and .re'q s. ed con iri atiOn and. , . , -... clarification of the.'information reportedly •gjven,-to the European Par Liamen ., and. the Government of France. The Working Group has also written to the re1a .ive .of the missing persons to determine whether. they have received any further , : , informatio n -. , - ‘ : . . . - ‘ . ‘ Islamic -Republic of Iran . . : - ‘ -- .. . ‘ ‘ . : . - 132. OEe Working Group -stated,. in its eport.t9 th thirty—eighth session of. ..,‘. -‘ pmmission on Human Right.s, ' thac it had c. ansm tt d. 16 ca e qf raported... disappearances to the Iranian Governtrent. in 1982, a nong them the cases of two girls who were allegedly taken.;away ap.thor.i.tes ir . (OEl981. Eleven of the 16 persons were eta .,Lva oii i. .. Teheran on 21 August 1980, one other person reporteuly disappeared iq l9 O and two in 1979. At its eighth session in 1982, the Working Group met he Cha g 6 ‘ ‘ d'affaires a -i. of the-.P rrnanen. i.s5iofl of the Islamic d4ep.u..bl..i,,c fa, wh0 stated that the information transmitted to his Governmep -wa$ not sufficiently detailed and that more information should be 2 btained ir his Government was t9 carry out an effettive investigation.;. S iph information has, been sought f orn the source of. the reports. . . : . . . . 133. Since the extension of its mandate, the Working Group has received further reports regarding enforced or involuntary disappearances of persons, including children, in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In connection with certain of those 3/ E/CN.4/1983/l4, paras. 112—115. . ‘ . . -. : 4/ E/CN.4/l492, paras. 114—1.17.
E/CN.4/1984J21 ' page 47 reports the Working Group decided to ask for more information from the source, while, with regard to others, the Group was of the view that they did not a pear to fall within its, mandate. . . .. . . . . . . Morocco . . . . . . , . . , . . . . . . -. . -, . :. . , . , 134. In its .report to the Commission atits hirty—ninh session,. the Workiflg,.. . ‘ Group stated ‘that it-had, transmitted to the Government of Morocco ‘information. it had received from relatives about seven perspns reported to .have disappeared in the years 1972 to 1974; three of the persons (brothers) were reportedly arrested at their .home-on,the same date in 1973, and the other four persons concerned :. were reported to have disappeared from prison.J . . - . . - - . . - - . - 135. In.a.,Letter dated 20 June 1983, the Government of Morocco informed the Workin Grovp:of the results of its investigations. With regard to the reported disap.pearance'of three-brothers who were said to have been arrested on the same . day at the.iz home, the..Gevernm nt stated .that-the.records of. the courts, the Ministry of,,Jus.ti:eand.the.pris,ons had been searched, but that ,no.record of criminal •ch rges :. or.' qf any.ot1 r,judicia1:proceduresregar ing the brothers had, been found.- --In--the G&yernxnent's' view, -they should be sought outside the. . country. . The .Covernment stated -that two other persons had been sentenced by..the courts to 20 years' imprisonment for- oLfences against the security of the State; another person h-ad .been-seritence to death in .absentia;and -was. still being . . . sought. Final1y, the.seventh person had.h en. acquitted by -verdict in L973... -tn accordance with established procedure this information was brought to the attezition o.f:the-Telatives of the.miss.ingp.e-rsons.. -r , , ‘ , . .. .-. . . : l36 . Since the, extension-of its- mandate, the, Workir g rqu? ha rec.eived reports of three disappearances in Morocco transmitted by re.1ativ s of -the individuals coneern.ed. -One-person was a tudent..union leader who was allegedly. arrested in.. the presence.of witnesses upon bis return.to Morocco from,a ho1 day-in June. . - 1981; two weeks after the-incident.,. a-Moroccan newspaper reportedly confirmed ; the details of the day and place.of hi arrest.- The lati.ves report having t eive4 information on the ..plac•eswhere he was subsequently detained.'. Two other stud nts were:repo.rtedly arrested.in.l933, one in January- .andthe other in - Februar-y -..tb.e first was -allegedly arrestedin front of -witt esses, at. a :friend's home together with a person who was sub.seque-ptly released; -his-family reported .. that prior to the arrest they had been questioned about his alleged . - participation in a student strike and demonstrations. OEe second student was reportedly arrested at home in the.- presence of witnesses by judicial polioe who showed-credentials (the name of one was provided as well as the licence number of thecar used); the relative reports having received information on the place. of the-person's detention from February--to April -1983... Pursuant-to established , practice, .these'.reports ‘were transmit.ted to the Government of Morocco with the Working--Gtoup's request to-receive any- -information it.might wish to send. 5/ E/CN.4/l983/14, .paras .- l22 l23
E/CN.4/l984/2 1 . .. page 48 , . Paraguay . . . - . . ‘rfl. . 137. In its report to the thirty—seventh session of the Commission o.n,J-ILi,nan Rights, the Working Group stated that it had been informed of many cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances in which members of the security forces of more than one country were alleged to have been involved.. ! Among those cases., the Working Group mentioned a report concerning a Uruguayan citizen-i . allegedly abducted in Paraguay, taken to Argentina; in an Argentine mi li-tary- - - aircraft and eventually transferred to Uruguay ‘: ‘ ‘ -‘ . 138. During 1983, the Working Group transmitted ‘to th . Government-of Paraguay- five reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances.'.. ‘Oif the ‘fiv ‘ ‘; disappearances, four reportedly occurred in Asuncidn, Paraguay and one in Argentina. In the latter casey the person was reported to have.Paragtxayan . nationality nd to have'i be h transfetred from Argentina to Paragi ay; ‘he' was reportedly seen by -a witness -at “an Army detention centre in ‘Pat gu' y aad.'then. transferred- to an -uitlctibwn destination Further, with regard.rt'o ,this ,:c e ‘ . .. ‘ relatives of'-the-mi'ssing per. o&:r'eport having been arrested-in :Pa ragu y. a few daysafter: the miSsing person's arrest in Argentina; they -state:-that:the y were held in official and secret detention centres in Paraguay and we e interrogated on the missing person's activities. Ofthe four cases alleged t'o;have” occurred in Paraguay, one. of the disappeared persons is a uru ayII:.n-atio'n-a-i-'and the other three are ‘Argentine nationals; all four were rep.art.ediy rtran ferred to . ‘ their respective cduntries after a period of detent .oni-fl'.Parag11ay -. ‘ , . ‘ .- : 139. In connection with the above—mentioned cases:offour per sons arrested,,in . Paraguay, the Working Group also transmitted to the Government of that country a report from two persons who state ‘that they,were-de'Si'ned 'at the invest.iga'Pion- police -headquarters in Asunci6n, Paraguay, where they Shaired- a cell -with thec four missing persons. Accordihg to the authors of this report, the,fbur. persons were transferred to their resTxective countries (one to Urug xa-y and three to Argeat-ina) guarded by sscuri'ty:'personnel -from those- countries-; ': and the : Paraguayan police noted in their r.c rd IIat they had been e:-1ease&. OE- authors of the report are' two Paraguayan nationalswho state:. tlaat:nthey were - arrested in Misiones, Argentina,- and handed over to ‘the Paraguayan police at *he frontier between Argentina and-Paraguay, while the Argentine police recorded their release in Argentina at the same time as the transfer was being carried out. ‘ .-. . - : : - ‘ . . . . : - - . ‘ . 140. OEe Working Group -has. received:-information from relatives of missing --‘ persons of Paragnayah' nationality, whb state that it is difficult ‘to obtain ‘ reports ondisappSrance:s'in Paraguay from the relatives,,kb cause fear often,, ‘: prevents' them from ‘contactin-g international organizations r i 3?hey al-so repo t- - thattin cases -which- occurred' in -Argettina, the missing persons -we-re probably::-'' sent back. to- Paraguay, as. is the! case' for some who have been seen ir detention ‘ centres there. 6/ E/CN.4/1435, para. 173, and E/CN.4/1435/Add.l, para.' 4 .' ‘- ..-:‘/..
E/CN. 4/1984/21, . . ; page 49 ; .. 141. in ‘h ffio & Vetbale dated 20 January 1981, addressed to ‘theChair-ruan of-the Working GrIIip, thd''Gbllarnment of Paraguay explicitly indicated that -it had no bbj'ection'tb the Wo king G oup haying adcess to any re'leniant information which mFgh ' H vd b eti uhmitte& ‘b the Go ernmeht to the Commission ;.oa:Buntan Rights dnder the o'cedurII ‘gov IIedt lYy Ec nomic dnd' Social CounciL resolution 15O3 (XtvIII) ‘of 27 ‘Ma 1970; . it: does not appear that any information of re1e dnce td theseE as shas b en rec ived fromthe Cov nment of Paragua.y.withLttthe'.. framework of that procediire Syrian Arab R'epubTic . . . . . . ‘ . ;• .. . ,. . . . 142. During 1982 the Working Group transro tted to the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic information on three disappearances which reportedly occurred-in 1980.2' One of the reports concerns a medical doctor who was reportedly summoned to the 0ff ce of Peads of Prisons in Moms and detained there, a week after his ar est he uas transf rred to an unknown destinaeion The se ond case / also concerns a doctor who was arrested and accused of membership'and activities onb h 1f b'f the Muslim Brdth tho d; since'his ar est his whereabouts--have been unknowr The thiro report concerns a student who was reporLedly arrested by security agents, together with two fellow students, at his home an August b80, he uas said to have been taken to a specified prison 143 Since'the extension of 1L5 mandate, the Working Group has contacted the Gdverffirh ht f the Syfflian ‘Ar b:Repdblic Lb request any ihfbrm tion' it' might wish to send regarding these cases. To date, no information has been received from the Government on the above cases. Zaire 144. During the years 1981 and 1982, the Working Group transmitted to the Government of Zaire reports on the enforced or involuntary disappearance of 15 men which allegedly occurred in 1975 (five persons), 1977 (one person), 1978 (two persddII) , 1979 (oii pet dii), an& 1981 (six p rsbti ) inth& regidn f Bas—Zaire, in the southern regions of Kivuor in Uvira; soldiers or military .— intelligence officers were reported to have made the arrests in some cases.!' In most cases, the arrested person was allegedly taken to a named detention centre and in one case a person arrested with the missing person reported sharing detention with him until his release. A non—governmental organization subsequently informed the Working Group that two persons (arrested in 1977 and 1981 respectively) had been released. In 1982, the Working Group met a representative of the Government who expresed the Government's interest in co—operating with the Working Group in order to clarify the case. 145. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has continued to request information from the Government of Zaire and at its eleventh session the Group met the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Zaire to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who expressed his Government's willingness to provide 2/ E/CN.4/1983/14, para. 125 ! E/CN.4/1983/l4, Qara. 126
E/CN.4/1984/21 page 50 further information on the cases concerned. In a Letter dated 19 August 1983, the Permanent. Representative of the Republic of. zaire,conveyed a written coSunication on behalf of the Secretary of State of the Department of External Affairs of the Republic .of Zaire to the Working Group. The Government stated that there were no cases of disappearance in Zaire, that such a practice was noc employed, but raIIer that measures of pardon and clemency were used, for persons who endangered the security o the. State. Reference was made to a amnesty law of 21 May 1983 by virtue of which there were currently no priaoner o.f . : conscience in Zaire. The Government stated that, if any other information of an objective character was available, it would be examined by the competent . . autOr ities Other matters . : . . . . . . 146. In its report to the thirty—ninth session of the Commission on Human . Rights,2! the Working Group repor ed on its . doption of an auxili,ary procedure . .. .us:ed to. handle a few cases of alleged disapp.earance5 not otherwise referred to :itV thareport, on. an informal basis. Tkis procedure was used at ehe Group's discre.ti n in order to facilitate its solution of cases when news of recent cases was received and ranid intervention might nelp to save a life or at least regularize a detention. Since the extension.of its mandate, theWo king Group has again made use of this procedure- Reference can be made in this eg rdto approaches to three Governments concerning a total of some 40 reports of . disappearances; it is hopad that, the dialogues t ius est blished ‘with them wi .l yield-adequate results.. . . . .. ;. . ‘. . 9/ EICN.41198311 4 , para. 129.
E/CN.4/l984/21 page 51 V. IMPACT OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES ON THE . . ‘‘‘ VICTIMS FAXILY . . . . . . . . 147. The Working Orou has r ceiVed further information on the impact of a “ ‘ • disappearanQe bn the vidtim's family andin particular'on the children. The other sh?pt,e ,s of this re uL' p ide information Sn the treatment of the . disappeared person himself and a description ot the rights ot the victim violated by disappearances is given belo (chapter VI), but the growing volume of information on the impact of a disappearance on children deserves sp cia1 consideration Several recent studies bn the subject of children and disappearances, in par i ulir ‘those pre'sented to: the Fdurth National SyIIposidrn of Social Pediatrics in Buenos Aires (March 1983), offer a number. . .. ,. . , observations r, garding the family, based upon research. OEe Working Croup ‘ . attempts to. suminariz 'be1dw some'bf'the points' expressed. ‘The psychological state of a family after a relatille's disappearance can be described as “sustained shock”, that is, a latent ‘and prolonged critical state characterized by an inconcl usive search' di' the”lbved.—one,. anguish, sorrow and incertitude. “ Children participate directly or indirectly in every moment of the progressive deterioration of he' ‘family str'iictiite which is marked by fear, injastie, ‘ silence and permanent aggression from certain groups of society.- : )14ny changes , occur in family life as a consequence of the disappearance, such as: lack of ‘ ‘ ‘ economic resources, particularly in modest families which depended upon the missing person's wages; permanent psychological stress, which sometimes causes other health problems among members of the family; changes in the use of time, since a good part of it is devoted to the search for the missing person; children are frequently left alone or without assistance (for example: a mother of eight, father disappeared; the mother forgets to take one of her Sons to school when he should attend an examination, the child loses his school year); social and legal instability (lack of social and legal protection from governmental institutions). 148. From the point of view of the child, the situation has been described as ; “--‘ .- .“ follows: the child feels unprotected; he does not get a social response to his anguish (“nobody will do what the child's sense of justice indicates should be dqne”). He feels that his rights are being violated, even if he cannot describe those rights. This could lead to a rejection of the society, denial of its validity (indifference), denial of the effectiveness of justice and law, which in turn can lead the child to take justice into his own hands or seek evasion through drugs or alcohol. OEe child!s psychological state can be described as: a feeling of having been abandoned; the syndrome of the marginalized child; permanent and prolonged stress; the syndrome of the ill—treated child. Many children of disappeared parents present the symptoms of the “syndrome of abandonment'. Features of this syndrome are: repeated infections, alterations in development and psychic disturbances. The feeling of having been abandoned is asccompanied by a general state of confusion, which hinders intellectual work such as analyses and syntheses. In the case of the children of missing persons, marginality can appear at three different levels; (a) marginality within his or her own family; contradictory interpretations of the disappearance and of the phenomenon itself can lead to detachment, a split within the family, and prolonged separation from persons affectively linked to the child increases the child's feeling of abandonment; (b) the child's family sometimes imposes a certain “marginality” or isolation, allegedly for the “protection of the child”; and (c) marginality is imposed by official actions and by public and social reaction to the original circumstances surrounding the disappearance, which increases the feeling of being different and rejected.
E/CN.4 11984 12 1 page 52 149. prolonged and permanent stress is also noted. The child whose parents have been arrested at home or in his presence has suffered errible stress (anguish, fear, impotence in the face of violence). All the family has frequently been subjected to the same kind of stress and so is not in a position to giveassitance ti& the child. Such acute stress.can produce a lasting inhibitiofl .T 2 de th and duration of the stress..CauSes a number of eactiOn5 which ofteh r sUlt in an attitude of despai . F rther, many children whose pare t . WP d show symptoms of the syndrome of the ill—treated child, particul tTY if' h Y were present when their parents were ar d ted. In these cases, chi1dr arh r ticent, they avoid contacts with adults; they feetin despair (this is easily seen when they are in a docEb'r s nsulting room). . . 150. In gener 'l t Y' ear is the predominant emotion in the life f these ‘ children. It affects all their personal relationships. OEey feel, deep ‘ impotence , vulnerability and security The psychological process needed accept Ehe loss of a dear one is blocked and they are in a permanent state “suspendea sorr0w”. Such children also have learning problems and:':' ‘‘ motorph pical difficulties, such as loss of previouplY acquired te'rity ordinary ‘ ti t 5. . to of in : ,
EICN. 4/1 84f21. . page 53 VI. SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS DENIED BY ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES: THE SPECIAL RIGHTS OF . ‘ CHILDREN AND MOTHERS . 151. OEe Working Group wishes to remind the Commission of the chapter in its second report,!' concerning the human rights violated by enforced or involuntary disappearances which is set out below. It was the result of a comprehensive study and is as valid today as it was then. . 152. The information reflected in the present report shows that in.tnstances of enforced or involuntary disappearances a wide range of human rights of the victim himself and of his family may' be denied or infringed. These include . civil and political rightsas well economic, social anci cultural rights. With regard to the pers9n who is subjected'to enforced or involuntary . disappearance, the following may be identified as the principal human rights . which he is denied: , . ‘‘ . . (a). Tha right to liberty and security of'person.V T&is. is . the.prll cipal humaq right denied by th veryfact of enforcedor invol.untary.,disaPPe3ra1' Connected rights, such as the right . to freedom from arbitrary arrest',F the right' to a fair trial . in.criminal mat ers ( +id the right to recognition as a . ‘ per on.. before the 1 w, are all involved;V . . . . . 1/ E/CN.411492, chap. V. 2/ See Universa1 _Declarat1on 0 fRj m _Righ S ,_ articLe 3, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 9; Ani rican DeclaratiOn of the — c Rights and Duties of Man, article I; a merican Convention on Human Rights, article 7; and European Convention OR Human Rights, article 5. , 3/ . See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, rticle 9; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 9; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, article XXV; American Convention on Human Rights, article 7; and European Convention on Human Rights, article 5. 4/ See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 10 and 11; Internatiqnal Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, articl 14; american, Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, articles XVIII and XXVI; American Convention on Human Rights, article 8; and European Convention on Human Rights, article 6. .. 5/ See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 6; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 16; American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, article XVII; A merican Convention OR Human Rights, article 3.
EJCN.4 119 84/ 2 1 . page 54 (b) The right to humane.conditiOns of detention anu freedom from tortd e, cruel or degrading tr atment or punishment.' . Some of the information before the Group deals with the conditions of detention, including ill—treatment, suffered by the missing or .. disappeared perso 1s; . (c) he right to life.!! Some of the information received by ‘. the Group indicates that during detention the missing or.dis . appeared person may be killed. 153. Disappea ranpes f the sprt under consideration by the Group also, involve infringeII ifitS ‘of cer ain of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of prisoners pproved by the Eco omic and Social Council in its resolution b63 C. (XXIV ). o 31' ‘Jtiiy 1957.!” ‘ rules of a general nature are relevant to nforced or invol'dnta y ‘di's ppearances because under rule. h-,, they are applicable to all categories of prisoners, criminal or civil, uncried or . convicted, including prisoners subject to “security measures”: rule 7, which N, requires that detailed records shill be Kept ‘for each prisoneC rule 37, which ensures that ptisp:fl.er hall e able to communicate with their family.; and rule 44, which requires the a uthorities to inform a prisoner's spouse or,',rtearest relative in the case o,f his death, or serious illness, and affords the prisoner the right to inform at once his family of his imprisonment or his transfer to another institution. Rule 92, which pp1ies to untried prisoners' also recognizes the prisoner's right to communicate with his family and to inform his family immediately of his detention. 154. If these may be said to be the principal human rights of the person who suffers enforced or involuntary disappearance a reading of the Universal Declaration and the International Covenants on Human Rights shows that, to a greater or lesser degree,. practically all basic human rights of such a person are infringed. Particular concern has been expressed to the Group about the ‘ :: 6 1. SeeUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, article 5; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, articles 7 and 10; Am r.ican Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, article XXV; American Conventioffi on Human . , . Rights, article 5; and European convention on Human Rights, article 3• ,, . . 7/ See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 3; International Convenant on Civil and Polizical Rights, ‘article 6; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, article I; American Convention on Humat Rights, rticle' 4 ; and European Convention, on Human Rights, article 2. ‘ . 3/ See United Nations publication, Sales No. 56, iV.4. .
. E/CN.4/1984/21.. . . . page 55 right to a family life!' of the persons who suffer enforced orinvoluntary . disappearance and of their relatives. In the case of pregnant women, children and refugees who suffer enforced or involuntary disappearance, their specific rights 1 ,”as contained in the internationaL human rights-instruments, are infringed; for example, the right of every child to measures of . protection.19.I A review of the economic, social and cultural right ' . . . . , guaranteed by the various international human rights instruments shows that most of them-are -denied, to a greate or lesser-extent, by enforced or involuntary disappearances. ‘ . - : . ‘ ‘ : ‘ , . - - . . . . : . . . ,. , .,.,,t, ,.... ;. ‘‘ -r1 , 155. The information-before the Grdup shows that vari:bus:'human rights,..pf't4 3 e. members of the family of--a missing or-disappeared person may ‘aLso-he ‘infrinjdd . . ‘ . by that person's enforce.d absence. -Their right to a..family..life-may.be.seen.'asi-.;';-j the principal right involved but other rights of an tconornic -social and : ‘- . , ‘ cultural naturecan al-so be directly a. fecte&; for example, the family's . “ - standard of living, health care and ducatior may-all be adversely affected by the absence of a parent.' The adverse impact of the disappearance of a parent on ‘ . the mental health of children his been pointed out elsewhere..!!': ‘ Finally, , . - Additional Protocol'I to-th Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 has recognized “the rights of families -to know the fate of their relatives” and this-right of . ‘ .- . relatives to be'inforoe d cf the-whereabouts and fate of missing or disappeared .: family members rhas bee:n reflect di-n::resolutions of United Nations -bodies. !V : : ‘. ;h I ,h'i . . - . 156. The Wcrki g... @r-aez hats been-'patticularl'y.coticer.ned about r-eport -tffi-the disappearance of babies and children. There is no doubt that while practices resulting in enforced or involuntary disappearances can under no circumstances be justified or excused, those situations affecting or involving children are particularly grave and warrant every attention and concerfl from the , international community. Instances of the enforced or involuntary disappearance 9/ See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 12and •16; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, articles 17 and 23; ‘ American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, articles .V and VI; ‘ American Convention on Human Rights, articles 11 and 17; European Convention on Human Rights, articles S and 12. , . . 10/ See Universal Declaration of Human rcights, article 25; Internationil Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 10; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, article 24; American Convention on Humin Rights, . article VII; and European Convention on Human Rights, article 19. 11/ See for example, the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Situation of Human Ri-ght :i .n Chile tb the Gene a1 Assembly at its thirty—third session . (A/33/33l), para.'376. . . . ‘ . . ‘ . - , “ - . - 12/ See, for example, General AsseIIbly resolutions .34/1.79 ‘and 35/188 on the situation of human rights in Chile.
E/CN.4/ 1984/ 2 l page 56 of children may not only deny or infringe some or all of the rights referred to above but, in addition, they may entail breaches of specific principles on children's rights set: forth in a number of international instri.iments, both of a universal and a regional character, and constitute a direct attack on the, family as a social institution,- The following paragraphs reflect some of the most significant among those priviciples. 157. The right of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers to benefit from special measures of protection, care and assistance has been affirmed in numerous.intetna.!iona). instruments,, among them, the Universal Declaration of Human Ri htsJ.Vr the International Covenant on Civil and Political . . . . Rights,.i ! the internationa7. Covenant on Economic, Social and..Cultural Rights,2. ! the DecJ.aratioq of the Rights of the ChiLd, the American . . Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man,i. ! the American Convention on Human Rights,.121' the European Social Charter,!!! the Geneva Convention . relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,12! the two Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 ! and the . Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed : Conflict adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1974. Since par of the information received by the Working Group relates to the disappearance of ‘ . . pregnant women, it should also be recalled. that the American Conve ition on Human Rights states that the right to life shall be protected from the moment of conception,. ! 1' and that the application of capital punish nent to pregnant women is prohibited by that Convention,.aV as well as by the International f2! A tid 1i 25:, pan'. 2. - ---- — - -.- - - . ‘ i ' : 14/ Article 24, para . 1.. . ... 15/ Article 10, paras. 2 and 3. 16/ Article VII. . 17/ Article 19. .. . 18/ Part I, Nos. 7.and 17. . 19/ Articles 14, 17, 24, 38, para. 5, 50, 76, 89, 91, 94. . 20/ Protocol I, article 8 (a) in conjunction ith article 10 and articles 70, 75, pans. 1 and 2, and 77, para. 1; and Protocol I I, article 4, para. 3. 21/ Article 4, para. 1. 22/ Article 4, para. 1.
E/CN. 4 /1984/21 - -‘ page 57 Covenant on” Civil and Political Rights ' and by 1 ‘ttII twb Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of ‘l949.2. ' Some of the reports considered by the Working Group appear to reveal .that violations of these principl s have tak n 1 place. 158. A number of instruments referred to ab ve contain provisions designed to protect the right of the child to his personal identity, which includes the recogriitian'of, and respect for, the status derived horn his blood ‘ relationships. Thus: . : . - (a) The International Covenant on Civil' nd Political Rights provides that every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a name,. ' and the American Convention further states that every person has the right to. the surnames of his parents, or to that of one of them.2&' These:.prov.isions are . ‘ particularly relevant to those reports which indicate that . . children have been bornt mothers who were in captivity';'and, , / . ,‘ .‘ , ,. : . . , ‘ . (b) The Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, as well as the Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, contain detailed ‘prbvisions aimed at ensuring the identification of children separated from their families as ‘a result of a war. Such ‘provisions include, ii ter alia: the oblig.ation::of'occupying Powers ‘tp take all necessary steps to facilitate the identification .of children and ‘the,:' . . , registratian of th eir..paren age as well as the prohihi:tionr. . against such Powers-rfrom changing the children's .pe sonal . ‘ : ‘ status;1j' the :obligatipq of the parties to a conflict-to - ‘, est' blishjan -of'ficial -bt reau to provide informatIIn : -qr .tbe' H protected persons who are'in its power a section of.t- hi.oh i,$:;:.',' : responsible fottaking”the.necessary steps to identify ,childrnp,. whose identity is in doubt;i. ' the obligation of the parties to ‘: “ a..conflict:fto'keep. detailed'ideffitity records in thd-case-of. -r - — — ‘.‘. ,‘..T—.—.. , ‘ . .: ‘ i ‘‘ ‘ —‘ ‘ ‘ —‘ :: ‘ ‘ ; ;:‘: , : ‘ : ‘ .‘ : L—— , ‘‘‘ 23/ Article 6, para. 5. 24/ Article 76, para. 3 of Protocol I and article 6, para. ‘4 of' Pro b l II. OEe latter instrument further makes this provision applicable to mothers of young children. 25/ Article 24, para. 2. 26/ Article 18. . 27/ Fourth Geneva Convention, article 50. , 28/ Fourth Geneva Convention, article 50 in conjunction with article 136.
E/Ct'T.4/lll S4/2l page 58 evacuation of children; 2I'and the ob'Iigaifiitn'of the partiestoH . . a conflict to endeavoUr' to arrange for all children under IVt'o be• identified by the wearing of identity discs or: oy Some dthe ‘ means -a” . , , . . 159'.'. The ‘Group is of• the opinion that if the preceding provisions are binding upon States in tine of war or armed conflict, the principles on which they ‘are founded should, a fortiori , be respected in tine of peace, even if there exists a situation of internal unrest. These principles are particularly relevant to certain reports received by the Group to the effect that small children reported missing nay have had their identities concealed or changed and may have been given for adoption or fostet ‘care to”persons who would no : necessarily know their origin. This was found' t be the case in' everal reports sUbmitted to the Working'Group; the real identity ‘of the children was later discovered. ‘ , 160. OEe above instruments also ‘contain provisions designed to p otedt the “ ‘ right of the chi'.d to be physically under the protection and care' of his relations:. Thus: ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘“‘ (a) The Declaration of'th R ghts of dh” Child states that, ‘ ‘ wherever possible, the' child's ll grow tip' in t 4e care and ‘ : under the responsibilit ''of' his parents,' and adas that a child' of tender years shall hdt' save ine cdepEionaI circnmstaiices be separ ted from'hi mother'; 2L ““ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ (b) A' number' of provisions of the above—cited Gene 4 za Codventidn ‘ ‘ and the Prbtocols deal with the questidn of farnily'unity and s&t forth the right of childr n not to be sep e4 from' their ‘ ‘ families, e l len in cases of internment. “Th s instruIIents furth r contain specific provisions concerning the reu'nifi'cati'on'of famili s di ersed as a result of armed confli ts.2ll “-“--“-“--l6'l-' ”'This is a fdrmidable list of provisions., and the Working roupe1s : necessary to draw attention to the principles thus internationally agreed, and their relevance to the reports on disappearances of children. ‘ “ 2.9/ Protocol I , articie'7 3 , ja a. 3'. ‘ ‘ 30/ Fourth Geneva Convention, article 24. 31/ Principle 6. ‘ ‘ “ 32/ Fourth Geneva Convention, articles 26 and 22; Protocol I, articles 74 nd 75, para. 5, and Protocol II, article 4, para. 3(b).
E/CN.4/1984/21 : page 59 VII.. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL BODIES FORTHE INVESTIGATIOI OF REPORTS OF ENFORCED. OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES 162. Since its inception, the Working Group has given attention to the bodies established at the. national level to investigate reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances.!' This tqas , matter already taken up by the-Ad . Hoc Working Group on the Situation of Human Rights in Chile and the Expert on the Question of the F.ateof Missing.and Disappeared Persons.in.Chi,1eh2/ Recently, the importanc&-of such bodies was stressed to theGroup. y the Latin American Federation .of Associations for Relatives of Disappeared—Detainees (FEDEFAM) in adocume5t presented to the Working group in June :1983. , That document.referred to such bodies in ElSalvador and Bolivia;. the Working Group has itself referred to those and to one in Sri Lanka. . . 163. The Government of El Salvador, by Decree No. 9 of 6 November 19793 established a Speqia1. Commission to Investigate Politiqal Pr jsoners and .. . Disappearances for the purpose of carrying out on—the—spot' investigations to determine the fate of the persons registered in the country--as.having. disappeared since 1972. -This Special Commission was set up in-response to a recommendation of th.e Inter—American Commission on Fh m n Righits- after a visit to El Salvador ‘in 1978. The Spe ia1 Commission was compo e4 of three members and ‘ , adopted two reports, an-interim report dated 23 Novembe,r ,l97.9and. the final report dated 3 January 1983. ‘The Commission published a,list.ofpe-rsons ‘ . detained by the public forces who had disappeared,'-but: said that theywere not the only detainees to have' disappeared; while none of-the disappeIIred -were found alive there was proof of. the, capture or detention of :maay of them by the security forces. The Commission had visited cemeteries or buri a l.- sites and discovered bodies, some of which were identitie4: as missing persons-. The , . Commission visited detention centres of the various public forces and found places which could have served as secret prisons. It recommended that'th-o-se - places' be modified so that they dould not be used as secret places of detention,. that the :per sdns' identified as responsible for the disappearances be tried nd that th-eHtatn-ilies be given compensation. The Working Group sought information - from tht:Go,vernrnent on the implementation of these recommendations, but h sT::T”75 received none. Non—governmental- organizations have reported to the Group that : the recommendations have not been implemented. . , .‘, ‘: : 164 - In Bolivia, a National Commission for the Investigation of D i s ppeared Persons was established by Supreme Decree No. 19.241 of 28 Octo er,J982. The': Commission is composed of representatives of the Executive Power, the Human , Rights Commissions of both houses of the Legislative Assembly, the Cifiurch, the : armed fortes, the trade unions, the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights - the Red :‘ Cross and the press. Its- objects are to ana1yse investigate and determine the I t E/CN.4/1435, paras. 33 and 91—92; E]CN.4/l492, paras. 73—75, 138—139, 183 an-d annex X; E/CN.4/1492/Add.l, para. 6; E/CN.4/1983/14, paras . ‘40, 128 and 145.. : . : - 2/ A/33/33l, paras 421—422 and 779 (15); E/CN.4/l3lO, para. 335; A/34/583/Add.1, para. 197.
E/CN.4/ 1984/21 page 60 situation concerning disappeared persons, t.'ich full access to all relevant information and the right to seek the ‘ ssistance of alLpiiblic authorities; it can als set up District Committees. It is accessible to anyone with a complaint about the disappearance of a person in Bolivia. 165. Daring a meeting with the Jorking Group in June . :1983, a representativ of . the Latin Am ridan Federation of Associations for Relatives of . “ Disapp ared—Detainees (FEDEFAN) referrec to the Bolivian National tommfs'sibn' for the Investigation of Disappeared Persons and provided the Working Grdu'p iith a copy of that Commis ion's work plan for the dne year period begitinidg'bn. ‘1' : Februar y 1983. The Working C oup was informed that the elativei df the disappeared participated actively in the plan. On Lhe one hand; the Commission was contentrating on the investigation of cases and the opening of criminal “ proceedings against those responsible. On the other hand, it was hoped tha the Penal Code could be amended to include the definition of the crime of enforced disappearance, the'type of penal sanction, th& constituting elements of the crime and ways”df ‘p xticipatihg in it, since en?orced disappearances were to' be : “ consid red a ct .hi againSt' huII hity; The plan provid i' for action on many other aspects of th problem,: such a'establi hing IIech nis'nls ‘for, and centres of; . investigation, ‘idforini'ng ubl'ido inion on th* problem and: hdlding a natianair conference in brdsrto' evaluate •the prog'res mad '. OE& representative of FEDEFAN also ‘ st'at d to the Working Group that the results of the bolivian . . Commission to dat ' had been eni ouragitigY Since the CoSission was establish d there haveS been; no nS cases regist' red and people feel secure that they will not becoui a' victim: to the ract'ice.' ‘Pt-ogress has been made towards solving mahy long—standi'hg cases. Somebodies have been idebtified and recovered. ‘ . OEere are,'according o thd”fsmilie , many obstacles to be overcome, but they are hopeful and optimistic; Tt2wa'sstg &sted by FEDEflU'i”that the Commission: could be used as ‘ ‘ model for other' situations. . : ; t, . . , 166. The Working Group was informeQ ‘in 1981 by a non-governinental organization iii consultative ‘status with the Economic and Social Counc'il of the establishment : in Sri Lanka,: in the second half of 1979, of a Parliamentary -Select Committee . under theL Chairmanship of the Sri Lankan Minister of Trade .for the purpose. ,oL_i investigating certain events which' had occurred in July 1979 in the dorthern “ ‘ part'”of th t country. Among the vents to' be investigated was the reported “disappearance of three persons. In l&tter dated 9 August 1983 the P rmanent ‘ : ‘ Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva transmitted a copy of th ‘report of the Select Committee. That Committee had been established by Parliament on 8 August 1979 and its five members were appointed by the ‘‘ , Speaket- on 20 August “1979'. The Committee's powers included that of summoning : any person to appear b fore it, requiring ‘IIy person to produce any document or record, procuring and redeiving all SuctF&zi'dence, written or oral, as the : CoIImitte&might ‘think necessary or desirable': and carrying out any action necessary for the fullest consideration of the matters referred to it. The Committee began its work on 10 September 1979 and hel4 34 meetings. It visited the north of Sri Lanka and, during its meetings, heard testimony from a large : number of people, including members of Parliament, senior police officiais,, ‘ senior army officers, medical personnel, police officers, prisoners, and the relatiVes of disappeared persons. The Committee's re'port contained considerable information on thE”arrest of, among others, the three missing persons nd their eventual fate. With regard to two of the missing persons, the Committee stated that there was a great deal of evidence suggesting that they had been taken to a particular police' taaan and that the weight'of the evidence would at least
E/CN.4/1984/2 1 page 61 demand a further investigation; it recommended that a separate team of special investigators be appointed for that pur ose. With regard to the third p rson,. the Committea' made no specific finding'dr recommendations. . : 167. : A representative of the Latin American Federation of Assotiation f9r .. Re:Latives of Disappeared—Detaineees'(FEDEFAN) in a meeting with the.Work5.ng Group underlined the importance his organization.. tt:ached to co—ordinated , . national action against disappearances; this included independent and exhaustive investigations of..the': individual cases;':effect.ive ?rosecutibn of those , . ‘. . responsible';- Lagisaativete orms to dea'l'.adequately with the crime; the:. phy -sic-4 .. - eliminatioh,af .alL 1 .pla.ces ‘in military or'.police:.es-tablishoeen,ts which,- .coul4-serve as. sebret detehtioncettre-s , and public opinion, campaigns to' create aw arene$s'.: It wars”.suggested..,that,. three. tests be applied tc ' national investigative, ,b,pdies .t ., determine whether.th.ey •were impartial and whether-exhaustive investigations were made: (a) the independence of the person orHbody charged with the -. . ‘ . .: investigation; was it' dependent upon the Executive, the military or securjty ‘ ? forces? Was it a judicial body and had the judiciary investigated cases . -. - : “ ‘ presented in the past? Was ‘it. a- Parliamentary body? .:(b) The investigative . . ‘ powers of the body; could it freely visit possible centres of detention and investigate clandestine cemeteries., or did it simply register cases: and transmit information from the•Go-vernment?. (c) OEe results.achieved;' were any coBcrete . results obtained for the families'giving necessary details? Were- jud.i .al proceedings initiated when illegal activities were uncovered? It wa - recommended that the United. Nations promotethe establishment of such bodies in countries where disappearances were reported. ‘ , . ‘ l 8 . The Working Group has also been informed, of the: existence of other - . domestic investigative commissions or bodies set up. to inquire into issue,s . . including disappearances; it is proposed further to study the results of their- work- Examples are to be found in Chapter II sections H and K on Lebanon and Uruguay. ‘ ‘ . . . : C . . . ..
E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 62 VIII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOL4i4ENDATIONS 169. This fourth report by the Working Group shows the extent hi h enforced or involuntary disappearances continue. It also demonstrates that progtess is slow in revealing solutions, since the phenomenon is closely related to internal political instability. Where this has been halted, new cases of disappearanc s are rare. Where such internal conflict continues, disappearan e5 remain common features of the overall situation. . . . 170.. Success in clarifying cases which occurred in the past has so far'been very slight; it is evident that any progress is dependent on the policies of the Government concerned. These policies are only incidental to the Groups , activities, since solutions alone, and not politics, are the Group's objective. Where disappear nce are continuing, the attitude of the Governments con'cert ed varies- Some have establi hed domestic institutions or procedures which have been more or less succds ful in resolving the fate of disappeared persons. The''. international community should applaud efficient initiatives of this kind In other cases' tkier,e' e ' to' be. a lIInentable drift' toward's: toleration of these , :‘ cases, combined srith a marked difficulty in solving them 171. In countries wher di appea 'ances continue ther is no set pattern Which can be detected. It is f r. rom. certain that the Grdtip possesses a ‘ comprehensive list of persons who have disappeared, with the attendant circumstances The ability of familiesor organizations to give such details to . the Group varies, and with it the e'xten' of theallegations avail b1e to' the , Group. On the other hand, Governments have adopted widely differing procedures by way of responSe,,,,S9 . have developed, a. technique which brings regular responses, as reflected in the statistics quoted earlier in the report Others, unfortunat ly, make no response at atl or appear reluctant to give any explanations, , . ‘ ‘. , . ‘ . ‘ ‘ 172. Readers of this report should have no doubt concerning the Group's . ‘ evaluation of enforced or involuntary disappearances. Its View is that they-------'-- - constitut one of the most pernicious techniques for the violation of human rights; the evidence presented to the Group shows its devastating impact on the victim, the overwhelming consequences for the family and its paralyzing effect on society where fear prevents the action needed to bring disappearances to an end. Enforced or involuntary disappearances violate practically all the human ‘ rights of the victim and many of the rights of his family; the practice is contrary to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and no special circumstances, armed conflict, states of emergency, situations of internal conflict or tension can justify enforced or involuntary disappearances. It is such a serious violation that many have suggested it should receive the highest level of international scnction. It has been clearly decided by the international community that the relatives of missing persons have a right to know their whereabouts or fate; this can only mean effective investigations into each case. 173: As the Group said in 1981 the only course of action is to persuade and motivate Governments to prevent, eradicate or investigate such incidents which may have occurred within their territory. Public opinion, both national and international, has a part to play (see the Group's report to.the Commission at its thirty—eighth session!'). However, all sectors of society have a role in ! E/CN.4/l492, para. 176.
E/Ui4.4/19d4/21 page 63 preventing disappearances or inging them to a halt. The occurrence of government—connected disppearances is a sign of the breakdown not only of the security. or-police, services directly responsible, but also of. the judiciary and execptlva..l•n ‘their:. responsibility for ensuring respect for.taiw.and,pruer. Each arm of government ‘has a role to play in preventing or endin :disappea.rances. Also, ,anHiIIpbrtant part can be played by the press and hiaIIar J right's, and religious organiz:aft bns; their silence can allow the practice' to develop and take toot o the'ir'opposition can help prevent or end disappearances. Their activities deserve the support and protection of the international community. The Working Group has received many reports of the harrasment, death or disappearance cf journalists, lawyers and relatives who actively opposed . “ . .. disappearances'. ‘ ‘ . ‘ ‘ : . 174. Effective, international action against disappearances depends in large . ‘ measure on the attitude of Governments towards this phenomenon and the degree to which'they. co—operate in eradicating it. Hbwever, the mobilization' or.J . :, strengthening of public opinion, and the support given'to organizations . . , ,.. . , cornpaigning for a solution, can also make their contribution. The r.eport shows . examples of a response by certain Governments which has led to resolution of some cases, and promises a similar result for others. Elsewhere, the:, . Government's' :t ponse',.. by comparisonwith ‘the details of the! allegations, . ‘ suppl:i:ed, nIIke.s IIt difficult to believe that any reaL; investigation has taken. place'.'' There iS aato a difference in the extent to which' national organizations concerned with human rights are at liberty to operate and to provid'e..infonnation ‘ to the international community. It is necessary to add that the international community should attempt to check the allegations it rec'eives' ' ince, ‘ regrettably, the motivation of its informants is not always ‘purely;ihumanitarian. .,—. 175. It will he apparent from the previous chapters that the Workiqg' Group continues to be confronted with two sorts of case. There are those from the past, occurring' in the l970s or even earlier, often predating the GoVernment now in office. Others are current, arising day by day during 1983 as in earlier years of the Group's activity. The distinction makes little difference to the families of. rthos,e concerned. All the evidence suggests that the uncertainty, “ -‘ -“ ! anxiety, anguish :and frustration,'is as great whether the disappearance occurred 10 years or 10 days ago. “ ‘ 176. However ':,from the Working ‘Group's viewpoint, different techniques and objectives must be recognized, ‘according to national tircuntstances. ‘ Older cases suffer from the problem of' tbe passage of time which makes •iIIzescigat.i,on ‘ increasingly difficult. By contrast Governments may be less se nsit'dive' about enquiring into events which happened before their accession to power than into those which occurred during their own tenure of office. The essential basis of the Group's inquiries has been explained, not only in previous reports, but also in all approaches to Governments with which it has been in contact; no accusations are involved, no confessions or self—incriminations are sought. OEe critical fact is that only a Government has the resources which can help to solve the cases. So long as the exercise is recognized as being entirely humanitarian, neither responsibility for a disappearance nor the question of punishment enters in the Working Group's consideration. This point has been repeated again and again. The Group's reports show that the policy has been borne out in practice. Reactions in the Commission's debates and governmental responses show that this strict and consistent approach is being increasingly recognized and relied upon. It is at present the Working Group's main source of strength, backed as it is by successive consensus approval of its actions over nearly four years in all United Nations forums.
E/CN.4/ 1984/2l . page 64 . 177. The Group, therefore, believes that the time may have arrived for the Commission to adopt a more active role than hitherto. Experience shows that the , points mad in General Assembly resolution 33/173 are still vaLi,d and provide a , . : , framework for the Group's activities and for an assessment of its achievernen s. What may now be desirable is .a firmer appeal by the, Comtizission to the , , . , , Governments concerned to increase their co—operation with the Group, including , the encouragement of positive response to the Group's suggestions ‘f6r on—thespot'visits. The Group is aware of the vnique nature of. each situation ‘ and takes that fully into account. in its work. ‘ :‘ ‘ , , : 178. In previous reports the Working Group has suggested that no fu idarnental or philosophical phenomenon underlies the appalling practice of enforced o,r , ‘ involuntary disappearances. It is merely an effective, though short—term, . method of ‘eliminating ‘political” opponents:. and preventing :fa 1.Y members or the cout tt fromaedii1riT S' an. immediate remedy. . However,, the disappeared have families, who cIIa iing1Ly unite in their common.f u, trat .0n. and despair. The' longer—term repereti s ians' have not even now been fully assessed.,, and. may well be ‘, .nuch IIb 'e s riou's ‘than currently anticipated. ‘‘ . . ‘‘ 179. The inhumanity”an'd specific violations of accepted human rights arising out of disappearances have been. catalogued in previous reports. , Nqthipg has emerged' this year to reduce theseriousness of those,affronts to human life and dignity.'' ‘In' addition to recommendations made in previous reports, the Working Group recomuiends” that: ‘ .. ‘‘. ‘ ‘ (a) The problem of enforced or. ino.luntary disappearances : ‘ ,. ‘.. ‘ ‘“ should continue:;to be a major doncernef the Cotmuission, and ‘ ‘ should attract the attention of the entire international community, including that of non—governmental organizatiqns ‘ “ (b) OEis' concern. should'again be expressed',as humanitar .an in “ ‘ character, wholly' devoid: of political or,accusatorial content; Cc ) ‘OEe ‘Commission should” reinforce the Working Grou,p!sapprQach, — —. - - - •whicb calls' for the goodwill and co—operation of Governmen ts in , seeking solutions to cases; . ‘ . (d) OEe.”ComIIission should urge upon Governments the, need to adopt measures, in dealing with internal tensions or disorders from any quarter, which will inform relatives of: the detention.,and subsequent trial of any accused person. .
E/CN.4/1984/2 1 page 65 IX. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT 180. At the last meeting of its twelfth session on 9 December 1983, the present report was adopted and signed by the members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: : Viscount Colville of Cuiross (United Kingdom) . Chair inan/Rapporte ur . Jonas K.D. Foli (Ghana) . Agha Hilaly (Pakistan) Ivan Tosevski (Yugoslavia) Luis A. Varela Quiros (Costa Rica)
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.L,/ o. /2l .. . ] ; . t i . ,‘ , .‘‘ ‘‘. ‘‘‘ .‘i .'tI ) l' -r .‘ ‘ L)L' ,.. ,, ' i ,c'' I . ,_ . the tiiiiL . i .‘‘ Ltuiiu 0 iLC'' Lt LOfld”Jfl ,li 1dY Li :‘‘‘‘‘ L} i:'. ,'-i' ,i ,sI”i', ‘ i i' I O . v/ c ; . ,!: I / add. I . i'i ‘rr' . . , t.h ;:.Li.,,i; !‘iinr.ia. on I; , —, .. i, , ' 1 : i 1 . : tt . ‘Li i !i11l .,LrJi ;n:'il i a [ ,‘inn 1; ‘i' Ui :‘,itioI l iL . : .a'Lit Vt Pow or, t.:- aiiii,rdi wilt: :jiy:r1c lyHi ar i d :1tiLinio!,!o',t:; hodios, i.iarrie.ci ; a I IL I ;eciI r i i I '' rev ;; I h ' mini.; i n'i:;iJ ‘ al eq nest ae C ‘at o i a tever I : ‘cides to VLSIL for its ortici:il piirpost s. The Rg i'icLt's ‘rod t;-i:ro U icia h, LlL'C ‘mr .‘Fi n,ija.',-t :o :, such IT ILL)LnlCIti”n I ala' Suc h ,ir('{:i”llinl requestec. Prnvtsi,oj' is also nalie t ilO ‘rr ungeineiLs .ir''l si:ifi neend br (li_u Coi.itni.s:. tripi's mr . .. -;. ii a nit w it , , . ,-‘r',J;iaiiarv V 84 tithi tht? I stant S,cretar ' Geller:il , : C'fli.i t' lil y Ut i a l I l iLt;, aiti rior to the tr:t:sIuLs:;Lour of :ht: t iuve—nueritioned iii.,'' veytiahe, ;: renr ':;ii'Lal.1.vtu of I;he Gnee.rrimt'nt of Argentina provided i,ni.tiz l titl ‘t'liiatiwi ‘‘ii LII e ' atttEiI iahi:ent Lit the hat u't;il Commission nit th:' h)Hrrppi'nranco of l'er ons. lie ret uested that the uorldng Crouf) shou ld ‘ c tt'ii'i,r'ied int l that Lit ,: ted lotion:; anJ t he ‘;orkiii' uroup shoull provide dsu,ist.aflCC to the Jab jolt 0 ! Comm:ission to the extent posst I c within th e .iyjiticabl' reruittiotis .Snbs eqijent [ q, ii I letter toted 24 January ! 8', the Conin ission P/leflthl,d an invitation to visit Argentina with a view to ,vidiig (Ii eta tiotini Commission eith intorinati.oti d'.i nsoista'tco it! Lts t:O:iC disappeararices.Itaho requested that the information on disappearanceS — +anp''ctal Iv the, most complete lists ‘ ii: miss r.IIF parsons — ic si -ott L ii jL uS 0000 ‘in poins'.ii.'e to ass st it i i i t.s investig';tioiis. The Working Group decided to (Ii,uYr the Nat Loon C:rrmti,ss in in the uis.pt)e.iraiic.' of Persons ior the ilvi ration to visit ar gentina a n, to consider such a Vis It tt its iie/t : ua-',' joii, sho d d its nianaite' ‘‘e rc'uet-'eit ‘y the Comni SsiO l On liumat hihilts and thu tictinotnic [ m l Social Count hi . the Group also decided to make ovailc ibLe - to th ' .:at 'nai Co,itmussjo,i the information ii us tiles to ,icCor't;liictu ‘ithi the :th lisbed proct i.ce and subject to R oy requests for cooficientiali tv from -the sources; tire Group roque.tei the Secretariat to ‘t o ci :, out the practical details ii L I I the National (iornniission. Because of thc toportance the WorJng Groi.tp ;iLt'ic ites I.e oodles est-d I ishitto to investigate reports ui . Ci s;JppndYances (set' chrpter VII of its report), the text of Decree ia 187 of : ii':,”ffiPr 19R3 IS ;epro:i'LcLud in annex I I. . J-kytx/itL — —- , — — __--.--_--;— . 1 . hr letters Jatod ‘: l)c'cor,,ber J ‘nd 4 January 19H4, tile Goverruneot of cr.afll illiLth:el i uformition provided by the l3olivian f'iatio.na I Coinaission [ or th u fnvestigit 'i,.f' l)isappn::irad Persons u stx cases of cnfo:rceiu or ‘ t ovilriotctr': d i.sappearancc's, four of which lieu been brought to the attention of ho: (tivernnient by the .‘ii)rK])'lf Group. (In two cases chit Guvernnu .nc -reiterated of orniat inn which it had already provided to the United Nat ions Special Envoy “iii the Situintlin of liIn:in riwlits ii i Bol ivi.a:i/ thu hoLy of title )et'SOtl had neen : otur,d 00:1 i'ienti fie! , however, the Covertniient tddctl that, since some relatives ‘ had :loijbts about t:!i,” hdeoci.ty of the corpsi', t In-:' investig.:it m t ‘ c oi L luimig. ‘hue other person as at liberty. The Government reported that chi c' nvc'st i.gation -.‘as coot inning oil to ocher cases. 2/ Final ir, - ith regard : N' time t. 1) 11:1505 u'hicji ft,'iml not: heen dealt t,ii th by the Workii'ig Group, the O','(' rnrnl1nt s toted that on r son Outs it i.i-)c'rtv .titd that: .1: 1 ;iivestij.yitiuii as c:ranb iiiiiiiirr in, the other case. To date, the Government has pt'ov 1 ied Oil ‘ii ID ‘ i' rite 3 1 cases tr.'.tiismnj r,ttd to it ,v the ‘,oriJ iij Grou 1 :; t n ‘trio tiistailces Liii', Government's reply ha n cI,irlf erb Liii'. case. IL h/C ,4/I P,3/22 ‘tIl l flu. 1 ' ‘‘ I rntr lg Jri,:i 1 > 11:15 i'ect'.iVe(i ii'ii'orti,tit .00 nit ,‘ it o cit tneS(tt C,iSEtA 11010 . 1 mr'ti—rovernmnc'ntai Si'it;rt'e indicating that the person is at I ibert' ,'.R;l:.4/I t 4..t/A..z... [ I'.ig' 4 South Afr tco 1. By .i letter dnt d 7 February [ ‘84, II : P rna uict' ,t • b.siot of South AL • Cd to the United Nations Office at Genev a provi . ed information and obnervattcns on the legal proviLdons :‘nu th u specific cases eal.t situ in the :!ot-Idng ‘ . Group's report (chapter 111). With regard to the legal provision dealt t:jth in the Group's report, the t4uver. ment s:sid ..I :•t they .1 tU not pr ovide r acticdi evidence in support of allegations that involuntary .lisappearances took plac. in S loth Africa. ‘J im ‘k'vur'tnaerit pointed nut :hat it ‘ns s ot quite ecurace to s;w that “no one is entit1e to ritceit” offici.d iniorinati. i rehiring to or obtainel from” a perso. , r stricte'I i i' Lermh .)t ‘r CtiC,' I' , ‘ i . th LfltC.l,..1 Sacurity Act, 1982, or decnqcd in terms ot section 28 of chat Act tnee para. 118 of the report). . ;ith ra,t:t..i Co .:ostrict 'd pc rcons, the ( ov''rii.'1ent said th tt in pr actice they ucre either restricte d t6 a sp 'ci fLed napisterinl district or other tcc.i or proh ibitetl trottz'. ‘szn ci”g th mse1vos i'roiti their residential premises during the periods speci find in the restriction notice; restricted persons •‘e e further a:1) pront;.tteu tr'stn c. un.;u .' catis.g .4th r !rsoi ls in respect of tIIoui prohibitions snide. the Intenial Jec;,ritv Act were iso in force ‘ t n ' S chat restrict i.o i .;o: apply u:o tither peesonb; iie. t af kin who tiere restricted might communicnte ;sith each other. OEiis rustrict4ci . persons n a t e not prohi,.xted f—om ‘semi, n contact . i.4 their next of kin. The Government further reported that the names of persons heft! under sections 19 or 28 of the. above—mentioned Act ere :nclt_ud in .‘ cep.nt to t!h: ‘touse of ssenthly and the next of kin uere iruformeu of tietention$t unII'r section 28. 13. l9ith regard to ctctentx”ns t,r t r sect jl,n.t j' q 3j ot the 1nter: L Security Act, the Govnrnmei't stated that the rclaLtvcq of t t;etainee must ‘e notified unless tI'e uet.qinee .tq.. ..3LItL t. • ther': s or ndtification tyouid hinder the invesligatio lt or endanger the s. curity of the Stote the letter provisint ‘a ol a ‘urely te;”uor. ry r'fttct. I' t he majority of cases the-ne.ct of kin sre informed is.,ne intetv of an arrest. Provision is also made in the lntvr.,at ec.urit:, . ct . r the •t lL—uet'ig •1f siet tinees; they are to be visited not less than once a fortnight by a magEstrate uiui a s1 trict .snga aansLS1ua _ un I. On a regular basis (such visits must cake place at teaat once ev ery 14 day:. snd re unan,,o',nced). “ha ct ;‘lsr proviecs that a ptrso . msy have access to a c1t3m e with the consent of, aria suoject to the conditions determined by, the reinister or the Coia.;,iss Loit' r of Foitce ; a xQoro.tF cases , a th' u st tin: uiext of kin have been aLlowed to visit detainee's. OEe Government :xtso poi;'teci out that the reference in the :or!.ing (.coup's ceport to the .-:tn.tt tori o citnesses in terms of sectinn ai of the Internal Security Act, l98 , di3 not relate to “disappearanqes”, since such detentions ‘ere of timited ‘iuratiun; in the majority of cases witpesses ucre detained fur their own ‘safely anti, while access o them was not open to the public luring their tuna of cetc-ution, the fact of their bejs detaine.. t'as 5 el)era1ly knoop. 14. OEe Government a Iso referred to p.ovi s lens oC th., Yntnr ;al Security Act, 1982, which made it impossible fur a detainee to “disappear”: the Coimnissioner ; of Police is -e. tlLred to tots t/' the .i,'iat”r r, ja*t. .:n.i Order ,‘S t3O')tt . 59 possible after tin arrest nnd wust provide the name of the detni..ne anti the pl ace of detant ion; no uer:son s.'y ‘e C t.sss:t d Li t U ttl$ •.L ( 1e said 3ectio Lt )C a period excending th rtv days except uniter a t ritce , authority grti ltnt' by the !injcter of l j;' ,nd Order. the t otnqi sa io'.er oF Pal ic ' slia it I urnisn the t4 nister once a month tsi.th reasons why a detainee shall not b released; if the person h tr not been released ‘ithiti ni t ‘nonttis, the re asons thert fcr have to he adouced heQore a Board of k evi n. The deti,ttiee can sunmit. written: / . , ‘ •‘ ; , 1 . Pa .t ' I . Sinci tin LHUi I ‘‘it upiirl., till. lr, J.If1' nloruiatlnlt fr ' s : Lie .everiiinent i l Ii SaHid,r no 2Y report s [ iensi'i I L t d [ ! the Gov riwto:t i r! t “h ,‘L'rl,Llz 4 t in' L7,f)r,uatice )L{)'.'LLtl! ‘v th Government. S tiS r ' I O't I port ions are at I ihfrty, F i ce a re, in pri sti ll b u .:tre. dnad, ant! hurt ate in rrc,rcts ni eteittion , n l others. jH 0 t I l' fl't Group, LI ) date, li:rs n,ceivd 7 Y4 responses iron tht.t Government rniaIH IL , l.a the cases L i - non. tL : o i i; io ‘2'' ,scances th e Government'. :tiist,cr his'' ' clan tie' the c n n. . Gua 1:eiiia Ia . 9. by a note ‘erila ]‘‘ j o ted 13 January [ ‘.84, the lr;na,ictnt:t.ssL ll oL C,jaten,ala to La'? Led ;irt ions O U Nce t G eneva transn,Ltted to L i i ' ' Work in Group the ol,nLtrv:lt u,tu of tile (;oveiitttnt cr)llCCr'iII? 6/ i- ,p 'rt's 1 -iiLut'ce'I it u)volllntary rlisappc.ar inCC?t- that the .‘orking Cr:'up ha! ornught to the , , . Government'S att:t't'tn”l on 31 ()ctoLiet: i 83. ti n:' Covrnineiit at,,t ! chin the ‘ majority. ol the vt-int:s reporte d were the res 1 ILof the climate ol s,,I,vcrsion and political upiit'nv.”l that G:rttei'taia line so feted Lit nrevioLJs'.ears out hat! jooparuized tin' country' ., internal and nternat]Onal image. The Governpent also scaLt'Lt th at I! /as neutcine every t'tcort to clarify the facts attd t:hot . it jshe'l Ii estahhish a r gime of legaLi t-' in which human rights eio'al.l he strictly respect. I ; tin .L,scrV ffCC iL h,imati ri i Its ‘as one f the f,,inian,etit,t 1 objet LiVes oi the C mi tetialan legal systc'td ‘ Hi) W ill tU 5 ill. l'Sy letters atitci i7, 24 and 27 3. nllar1 384, Lii : - l'L'rn lat,t'nt ,i,SSiOil of lI,tnuiurns Lo the Utiit.t h Nations Office at Geneva trfmOSriIi tted informat ion on 18 reports of ‘inforL cci er i,.u;Liwtarv .lisappe:raiicct; 1tHi ‘‘ci ‘ ran r/uJttlt tn the Government: ‘s atte;itii)Ii Iv the Working Gron . flit untie cases the Government tat:t,t that Lii pi'roltilS hnit can hn'led ovr to ti: :ieLI,)i'i ! ‘15 at :ic ghhour: ngco n ry inttev .1 1,81. The War:; ing Group h.i :1 ready received the i ,iioniiiat Inn rca .i ingovern.lrefltfll h'ifid i-;;ivc—nnueii-t--repotbed- t hint-— -- . . it: hc.d ii) jiirnrt:ati ,, on th u. person'S t,hereahotits in sl/ coils; the Governniei'tc : ha l previ ous [ )‘ te;imsnhi ltd information ‘egarufin: t u, ot I his COSOS Lii I I : .‘ Jettctr dated 31 ln lsl 1Q83 stdting that the ‘persons ha'a r oL dc ci i arrested. Iho Cnveriiiient rnpt't:'.nI th':it invstiantion tas coit tnuLI ; in c'n',ht cuss. in 34 of die 1$ tas ct, the Coverhmeuic st jteci that it had requested INT ERPOL in 1 countries La as st j hiu' nuivestigatian. Concerning the exhumation of a cnrp e believed hy se ine to he thaE of a Foreign naritina I who reportedly t'isapptared in Honduras, the Permanent iissioo, in letters inted 4 January and ‘ 24 January 1Q84, traisnmi tte't information provided by the Supreme Court at i, nd,tras i r,tic:t'itl7 that no formal peti Lion at e.;h':,i,itiOll bad heen presented. The Covern,c'ifi ,,t Honduras has suhniitted information on all (i i) of the cases ti:ansmittttd to it; i ii ‘ ) t)stU,'ict'tS tha Lnt')r',e3t ,'n is is t hor ) [ tn the case. . . . ! 11. is v : l otte i-.:atae P February l9 4 the i”erniateiit liisOI,otI o f the Phili ppl.ics to the United thiti ens Office ,tt Geneva inform'd the Working Group that on Jarutaro i 84 t1,n Pt .‘sicieni o the Phi lippines had re lease -ct $4 detainees ate grant” 1 exeentice clemency to i3 nthers. The Permanent' hissin,ui stated that the names of host persons s Li as further Lllfornlat o:l ru [ at ing to the Phil ippinnsirn.cia it furnished to thc Worcng Group as soon as riie'iicre received. ,stated that 12 ey ‘ere I , rrsi: ii vi. 1 1ay e s ‘Ihe re authorities. at 1 x 1 it'rL''.as ! ‘ .“oo i c r ca s ii'' ! i'' in,- Group ‘ I ') 11 VC t . ru o C ‘4' ti-it'' a rr ci I , ! ,i lt; . ! :v , PC_ y ap i C . r' a !orrnal ilt,uC tC•ti C ‘ 11 5 i'lii., pex-sou 3 ecro dr ' esteci dud flC('S ' .i etalined 1 _n art s , .t cli ii'! cite aCi they receive ciacer iai and H to L'th' r C ISC'S, Lhe hev,rIiidt'tiL a t'(JSCi it at :fl1 ,‘/ilIi'4eS Lv Law passe d Li i ” i;,iverur,cl rc'i.u'L !tiLi1,lL ufli ! a I re;ii/' )‘,254i I ‘ ‘ ut ‘ N a i ‘‘.‘ • _ ‘ ,‘T:iJ i lL ‘ tf 1.:nt reVcl L lie.' anti ci f . 4,., ( : I . ‘ . [ ) p [ F /‘, —..‘ . , , t.' h ,t /.‘i , ‘ , / , ‘‘‘‘,‘‘. ; i'- :,'', : .' ( . .: r .i_ 1. L i t a t”' ‘ c t.”' , 1.;'.I,e'r',ir,cL'li (urCIiaj.”':tatet l chcit dT!,ilLsLrIii't Nc r! iipy ai,,a,i .•h.,'r,''lt' :Fit IJir,CLut' ci S cu.riLy ,,es itJc1LLL,n, ‘v ho dit ticS uhere the person cis detained, the ist rtct (‘‘ii !, 1J'iL,yzi..: ‘Cr, ‘‘a Li ,iii:Ci 4 -r- :iie .,t,tenCiL'.i, .iilseq ii icrri'cct ‘ itvi. r L!ldiL . 1 JL't,ainee coijic itsiippcar ‘4jh'di Sc h ,. ‘itotI ag . ' a' , .y.rresr “ilL rucur'Jn chc'.':_yol ‘‘era u'pt ‘y 1 IS tcinL'.' i i. ‘iN:' Covai'n cit H '-uh r d, LflL,'ti Lii,'!: rite c'.Lh'ji.'iL ras ii n't:iii “. 1 nor i.ri . jfY'i”,I( i'M . hi: ntiestion of ii Jade,I ‘Itsappt':'.nrances tin I , i iiC'iJCl coi.:plntcli, N 1 . Ollel that “e ar r , ,.‘;:rol.iar Lt/':'sLiv. LLiin {rIl..i ic t 1 ii' comp''r (‘ii' till th ur (‘ [ Cs. ‘ iN” CoVLyrcntecL said LN..t in ,ii;iii ' c s'' s I i c l .y':n'' ! H'' .,t '.Lit:ii' ,oe .., ,‘ ti.'u s('i:y'eLi',' Left L li' CtJiilItl'V ccporti '.l rli'4 ‘i; I u' . . . 1 '. 1 -. t: i”i ar'' to rh. v nt'ciiJc i''pc',i'Li; ‘it ILS: ,ppt:: lr liilct'S Uot 4 L'i [ ric,: ‘ , dc.' [ L I Wi th t Nt,' ..‘‘rki.nv, Graup, the Government statc,c that u.hr”t persons had non nrrey; L i'' ,‘ cii ‘i,,y:i'le:i ‘‘ii': ‘a) irit'orii,,it.iort ‘as ,-‘‘v:u 1a'; -i ii Liii:'ir ‘he -eahnuts;'5.rbi re;.y'. ct'l to i i Loui'th ease, the bourn Afri..:: ii authurit'i'as had no cnriiclcuge di. I; p' ‘ i c i's.'''' ‘‘hi-i' n,':bou',,s. CQoCe','t,Lfl,' ‘. 1'.' ;,.;:‘-4 (Ccurin7 in I cnn It iL a , one L a s ‘utor'-' the t'/iiicihoiCR Supreme utturL and, since rhe Cfls ei''us 44'' hal.,, , thc ( 1 ,,v,'ryu,u,,iii, C3i,iidi it,. t i i)rI'!Sd',It sappi': Li,irthL:i' cietc ,ils. i' Lit r'' zarcl Vt ) L.a i”thuc cIisappeuranct. L . til ir tiiLC ren:, 1 _y,! thti :lil':'4grit'Iolis c i ,irrcst [ i' l L ! ,ht'tcntiurt ‘ t:ne 1't : iir, Ly idre l'';; ii,U, r;IiIi.ittr p”1i :': of f c:.r N,- , ,! heen chari cd with inve cigatin” tb 1 .Ljc :iric' i is, ha'..'ev''r, tiC) ‘/TL{”Cil(i' (‘t')'i!t'' 1,' 1 _OW l_i ‘(1 ‘i.nirii ,r,it i-' i:ii,,: ‘ . 1 cut': ‘‘ l't,i t'C'''. S iii rh' C. si1ppO .i'.”' iCes. Vi. rt, 'L1y, t hu Government reported that: Llu' persons du'Lai ned ‘:‘, i ;ir,la i i)c:rn, ‘;!“y'),',iit, ll, 1',yc,.' [ v'ei l'Citi: [ .'ir /‘iSlCs it' l''”i1' i.,c,'.'rti,atnn-L n5,nh1tLrc I') ! th'.' ti(''1 1 I,,' y', i,' f l,' I that thy ‘:tyrCy it' .:‘y'iL.'iC' ‘:ith thc'i ‘ teXt ‘H : iii. Za I 17. Ky ‘ i Iitttni' ‘‘ laCed Ii . 1 ,;wiry ItH4, thiiy Permap''nL ;Ha;aitn; .: ! :11_re Lii La-: r Ur ilLed Nations Office at Ge neva transmitted i_i forui.'1i:io” ut rue C a st'S c i P' iflrC, d r ) irvoiu”t::yrv his, ppi'iar.'i.iCes -hitch “ Ida S,:e,: .‘rctlg!ii. L ii i' h l' 1 (;ovr_yrnn','tt ‘ S :Jtti”tlL tm ii',' the ( ‘ /urking Group. Accordc. g Lu the itljTorniaLioi” n,cv]cti CI Nv i:iin G,',v,''r ,rnerit, the ‘hcr”anc,uts or these hurl-a's, c lv ,' hOC :‘e'::' determined . Tie (;o'4't”x-nment of : i hvers I ye tic L cvi ties; th con!' Her! C i i their r ‘ spect ive Li nanc in I -‘ id ‘‘cci c:lie 1 (I c . I 4t;}te -' rh,,t the h',i'- ri',oi'yl ) ‘ .‘ I' . h O [ i 've risfli'itL i a I . p('. ;y. ‘te,'i l (‘,‘ J u tJ orin t t n I :Oiii'i',lit!t'' ivtinii,'le': Cci i re,spotl,4t' t'lit',t , ,‘ ; ,‘? iit,'ILM L,'liOri' titci rh'' mired , ,ruo:t:'' , (‘lit' ‘.:pti ;L it: ‘ ii principlr's' 1 .'f L a'' a u.' 1 ci' L!icy Uhartar 0 L Lhe Unitea i;itiont, Li” hi,t:ii I )' ,,rlIi,ir,'.i'i . 1 ‘ ‘ i i , S i i! . 1 aisLe )' i i Lit, 14 1' Ii 1''E/GN. / Ld84/2] /Acki.1 Page 3 Adoptiofl of this addendum . 18. On 8 February L984, the present ddendurn to the report of the Working Group was adopted by the following members; Viscount Golville of Cuiross (Uiit.ed Kingdom), ChdirmanlRapporteur, Jonas Foli (Ghana), Agha Ililaly (Pa'cistan), and Ivan Tosevski (Yugoslavia). The text of this addendum was approved by Lois A. Varela Quiros (Costa Rica) in i telex dated 10 February 1984. - ‘E/CN.4/)H! ./ 11/Add. Annex I A! Cenerol Assembly Rusotution 3d/94 (udopted on [ (‘ December 1983) ‘!estioi j: ciif,,rct'd or Luvdunt.,rv RdP CirdiiceS The Gene rat As semt Iv , , Recal ling Ls resolution 33/173 of 2u ec c m er L7L>, entitled “IJI.sappeareu persons'', and its resolution 37/180 of 17 December 982 on the question of enforced or j'1vol,jnt j1-y disappearances, Bearing in mind Commission on Human Rights resolution 1983/20 of 22 February i 83, by ‘‘hicli the Coismiss ion lee ided :0 ONCCITC; for cr c eur the term of the mandate of L:he Working Group on Enforcec or Involuntary Disappearances, and Economic and Social Council ‘!ectsion 1 U J/L4L oi 27 ha ' 1983, ‘y'ihich the Council approved the Commission's decision, Convinced the : the octso,i taken, in consultation i:ith tue Gov r ,1ments concerned, to prounte the implementation of the provisions of General Assembly resolution 33/173 un.: other United Nations resolutions relevant to the plight of missing or disappeared persons should he continued, Expressing its emotion at the inguisli tn. sorro'' of t )e LoiIilies concerne..i , ‘ho should kno/-! the fate of their relatives, 1. IVeicOfleS the d cc ision taken by the Commission on ,Iur,,a., Rights co extend for one year the term of: the mandate of the Workiiiq Croup on Enforced or Involuntary lhs ppearanc 05,05 1.. LU ot'n in Coiu;nissio- resolution l.83/20; 2. Expresses its apprec tat i oi l to the horking Groui. for the woit it has - done --a-nd Lnthose Coverm:iri ts .IiatOE OE6 i 5efh1difljj UiOE T 3. Cal ls upon the Commission on human Rights to continue to st:udy thio C ! question as a niattc!r of priority and to coke ony step it may been, necessary to the pursuit ott lie task of the orIcing Group when it considers the report to he suhnitted by thu Group it its fortieth session; 4. Appeals to all Governments to provide the Working Group and th e Commission on HunL,n ‘ights uith the full co—operation mrrantec by their strictly humanitarian objectives and their uorffling methods based on discretion; Ceneus its request to t he to continue to provide the Workang Group wli:hi all necessary assistance. krhp final edited LexL of this rLts ‘h ,t ion i.l F be pubLish e d in OLLicial Records of tlici General Assembly, Thirt'r—niglithi hess i cE, Stippioment , , : ; (A7 7Tfl7 -/ ‘ o./2 I /Au. 1 Aiirie;< 11 . D cr e .o. U 7 of 5 ikacember i9 3 i ssiiad by thu Argentine Nariorul Execut vcPoiaer IN VIEI.J OP the report of the I11{Ilstry of the Interior, and 0 HER EAS . . The tioan I E cocuttve P 'wer i, s ,lreaciy gii'cl! cLtect, through a nuwber of draft laos ciud decrees, to its decision rhat the tncti-on;uly serious violations of ‘l il lian rights cOohli tied in our r cerO: p:J ;L should ‘ c investirateci ::nd , if appropriate, punishee by the lw-; . As il;s repeatedly ‘ec u stated, io-evc-r, h:ho uuctst cni ot Iluian rights transcends the governmental sphere arc concerns civil society and the intermit iona 1. com lnuni ty ; With regard to the latter, its legitimate interese is tahen n it_c ..lccounc in the dra ft texts submitted to Congress for the approval of a number of international covenants on humeri rights, chich include the co;pui.sory juri.suictioii of an ioternational court having competence in . that area; Hi ib reg ,rd to civil society, it is c ce ssary to satisfy its legitinu.tc nterest in playing an active part in shedding light ot t the trag LC events u the course of Hiich thou.sntn.sof pr suns isapfiea.red, irovi.ted t.h t duch participation should not interfere with the activities of. the bodies . constiti]tior,allv ‘itporeri-d to ilrvestieatc n: punish such acts, jl other .jords, the courts; . . It is therefore considered approprLatc sL - :L i iJmjll s . n .p i .;_ Ci'tisi ftihg 6id iijbh k iLfh their zeal in the defence of human . rights and their good name in puolic affairs in the conntj-y, to determin ‘ahac happened to - the persons vrho have disappeared; . . . . . . It i S necessary to Lnvi ti-I both Chambers of the Legislative l'oncr,,-ts direct repre-s iNitativos of the people and of the provinces of the nation, to appoint members of the Coinniission; . . In order to ensure that the Commission s a comp lement to, rather than a substitute for, the t.'ork of the judiciary, its functions must be circumscribed to receiving coniplatocs arid evidence, .‘hiich it shall subsequently transmit to the courts when they can he linked to the commission oJ: oticuces, ar id to . ascertaining the ‘hereabouts of persons i.'hu have isztppeannh, a task -‘hich, must he dissociated. from the determination of resj'onsibi1it es' . This inve t.i.gacive i.'ozk must ‘c regulated n such i ‘.‘ny that itIs not distorted fur purposes i-yliich have nothing to do with the s&ric-t task described above; . ‘ti ‘nsnre t hat the Commission is as cttic eit .45 possilie, all officials of the l4nrio i5 I i:y.erutive Poicer, and of its sthorriin.nt. and autonomou.q agencies, shall he obliged to co—operate in -v'rr' an. nc.luding y the provision of documents and information in their possession and access to certain premnses;— E/CN.4/l9b4/2L/Adt . 1 Annex II Page 2 ‘l'he cominiss c)IYS ;,ict vitteS should !iave a ziettnite tu l le span, to ensure Lh t tile tragic need to investigate these events does not extend beyond the i:@ceSSary period 3L [ i undermine the efforts that must he made to strengthen in tile future a Uemdcrati.c coexistence t':hich respects human ciigdFi.ty; The Cirninission :uusL C given the necessary technical, financial and stuffing resources to carry out its work effectively; . . . The Commission should iC requested to coo Lode tcs ork iy sLLDiliitLitlg a report containing a detailed explanation of the events investigatetH to enl ighten ‘iot Local and internaL LO:lal pubLic opinion. therefore, : THE PRESIDENT OF TilE IidCENTI 1 1MN NM. 1O' : DECREES: A C T ICLE ]. . A atidnai Coinmiss on shall he sct up for the purpose of shedding light on the events connected wits the disappearance f persons which have occurred in the country. . . ARTICLE 2. The Commission s functions shalL he coifined to tile following specific activities; . . .‘ , , (a) To yeceive oinplaidt.s and evidence concerning those cizents nd immediatel y to transmit them to the courts ii they relate to the presumed co nissibn of offences . .. . (h) [ “o ‘ascertain the whereabouts of the missing persons, as w ll as aLl other circumstances connected with their location; ! ! (c) To determine the. whereabouts of children removed from the care of their• . .__....I ar en! $_0 guardians as a result of actions undertaken for the alleged purpose of the' repression of terrorism, d i hife ‘, b'p'Fi:a-t ”ta' -c l - ‘oi'f-t'he'— gencies - - and doUrts fo the protection of j uveniles ‘to act. (d) To report to the courts any attempt to donceal, remove or destroy ‘ evidence concerning the events which it is sought to elucidate. (e) To' issUe final report with' a detailed explanation of the events ‘ investigated O E I1UNDREI) AND EIGHTY (180) clays after being constituted. ‘ The Commission may not express any opinion bh eveh&s or c lrcumstances falling within the exclusive ‘sphe e of cht tencc c' e''jtd ciary. ! ARTICLE 3. The Commission shall have the power o require d ll ‘officials ‘df ‘ the N tiona 1 Executive PQI'er, of its subordinate agencies, of autonomous bodies and of the armed forces ann security fortes to suomLt to it reportS, ‘ information, and documents ,and also to allow it access to whatever premises the Conw.iission decides to vistt for its official purposes. Officials and agencies are under the obi tgation to provide such reports, information and ‘ incumetits and to facilitate such act esu : 1 1 00 requested.E/CN .4/1984/21/Acid. 1 Annex II Page 3 ARTICLE 4. Government officials, including members of the armed forces and security forces, must provide in .iriting any statement they are called upon to make. Private individuals shall not be under the obligation to make s t a t eme nt 5. ARTICLE 5. The Commission shall consist of SIXTEEN (id) members. The persons those names appear in annex I to this Decree are designated for this purpose. ARTICLE A. The Chambers of the Honourable Cunczress of. the Nation .ire invitea to appoint THREE (3) representatives each as members of the Co mmission. ARTiCLE 7. The Commission shall establish its inn rules of procedure, elect a chairrnun tzho will represent it, and appoint whatever secretaries it considers necessary. lt may also appoint ihacever technical staff it considers appropriate. The Commission sh ,iil take decisions iy si mple majority. The Commission shall be dissolved at the moment of submitting the report referred to in article 2. ARTICLE 8. The official title of the Commissiun shall no ‘National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons” and its headquarters shall he the San Martin Cultural Centre of the Crty of Buenos Aires. ARTICLE 9. The budgetary arrangements necessary to carry this Decree into effect shall he. made and the equipment anu temporary staff needed by the Commission shall be provided. ARTICLE 10. ‘Ibis Decree shall he issued, published, transmitted to the National Official Records Directorate and filed. - DECREE No. Signed ) Dr. Antonio A. TROCCOLI Minister of the InteriorUNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL Distr. GENERAL E/CN.4/1984/21/Add.2 24 February 1984 Original: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fourtieth session Agenda item 10(b) QUESTION OF THE HUMAvi tcLUHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT, IN PARTICULAR: QUESTION OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Add nd im GE .84—11092. . .E/CN. 4/1984/21/Add .2 Page 1 1. The Workingbroup tin Enforced or involuntary disappearaces presents to the Commission on Human Rights in this second adc.tandijm to it report . irformat Lan frdm the Governrnehts of Indonesia ann Nicarabuc received .after the adoption on 8 February 1984 of the first accdendrtm. The full text of the information provided by the Governments is on fiLe ifitl tile becretariat and available for consultation by members 6 1 the ConmissauP. Indonesia “ . . 2. In a letter dated 21 February 1984 thd Permanent rli$sior of t e Republic . . of Indonesi to the United Hations Offi e at Geneva provided information on, matt rs rdferred to in paragraph 7b of the Working Group s report to the. : : Cornmi sion (E/CN.4/1984/21). ‘foe Government stated that the suspension o tl%e. activities oE the Internal:ional Committee of the Red Cross (ICEC) on the main isfdnd of East Timor was temporary and had been necessary in order to ensure the safety of :cac peraonndl. The suspenbion of IGRU's activities was i n fact confined solely to relief operations on the main island and in no way affected any other ICiW activities on the mainland or in Atauro island, such as programmes concerning fwiiily rennioi i and repatriation, tracing and mailing. The Government further stateu chat with the improved security conditions in East Timor a series of understandings had been reached between the Government and IGkC. With regard to protection activities on the main island, the Government reported that the terms of the understanding included visits by ICRG representatives to detention facilities on the main island of East Timor; initially, starting in February 1984, the visits would be to places of detention and detainees in Di li, cccl suesequently they would cover detentioji facilities and detainees outside Dili as well in agreed stages between February and October 1984. With regard to IGRC relief and aiu actlvtties on the main island of East Timor, the Government stated that it had been agreed that such aid would henceforth he provided by the Indonesiae ken Cross and toe Provincial Government of East Tudor; ICRO had been ouly informed regarding the programmes which woulci be implemented by the local authorities in East Tirnor and had expressed its appreciation of the envisaged progrtmrnes. The Government further informed the forking Group that the ICRU programmes on protection, food and medical aid in co—operation with the Indonesian Red Gross N: on Atauro Is land had continued uninterrupted and included regular vis its by IGRG representatives. With regard to tracing and mailing, the Government reported that tracing would he capt under the responsibility of lORd, but its implementation would he channelled through the Indonesian Red Gross; mailing was being processed directly between the hational Societies concerned (Portuguese Red Cross, Australian Red Gross and Indonesian Red Cross). The Government said that while mailing procedures would he kept under the responsibility of the Indonesian Red Gross, ICRG would assist and have access to all aspects of the programme whenever re 1 uired. Ni c a rg, u a 3. By a note verba e r.iatrcl 13 February l9E4, the Permanent .tss .on of Nicaragua to the Uniter Nations Office at Geneva transmitted information on 22 reports of enforced or involuntary tlscppearcnces in O caraguLfl nnve cases the Gdvernment states that the persons are at liherty; in 11 cases it has no records of arrest; ore peraon is in detention; in three cases an lnvestlgation is continuing; in one case the Government reports that the person was Killed by a border guard who is row beinL prosecuted; w in person yes arrested hut escaped from the prison and is now being soughtE/CN.4/l984/2 1/Add. 2 Page 2 4. In note verbale dated 2k February 1984, the Permanent Mission of Nicaragua to j e United Nations Office at Geneva stated that many of the reported cases of disappeirances'Pr esented to the Goverdment by the Working Group supposedly took place in parts of the country currently subjected to terrorist incursions originating beyond the northern border of Nicaragua. The ciisplacemen of the civilian population in those areas make investigatLon and verification of the information received difficult. The Government stated that the sovereign legal measures caken oy the Government to defend the Nicaraguan people against foreign aggression resulting from the. wel 1—known policy of covert warfare c'io not violate the human rights recognized in international human rights instruments or Nicaraguan law. The Government of Ncaragua asked the Wortd.ng Group to take into occount the Government's deep concern' egard ng the disappearances in that region ot hundreds of . iicaraguati peasants,. includingwon n.and children, kidndpped oy'counterrevolutianarY forces ‘and carried into Honduran territory. The Government formally request&i the Working Grot4p to,use i s good offices in order that appropriate . ... investigatipns migbt'he carried out. The Government further stated, with regard to the: information concerning Nicaragua in the working Group's report,” that it was, counter—productive and unnecessary to' repeat mechanically the allegations and cases, referred to in previous years. ‘ .. ‘ ‘ ‘Information concerning enforceci or involuntary disappearances in South Africa and Namibia A. Cases transmitted to the Government of South Africa B. Legal provisions E/CN.4/1984./21 . page i ‘ . . CONTENTS Introduction L 1 ; .L. Chapter . . . I. Activiifiies of the Working -Group on Enforced or Invo1untai y Disappearaiices in 1983 Instances in which more than ‘ ‘ 20 repdrtsof enforcea or involuntary disappearances have been transmitted Dy the Worki Group to a Government II. III. A. Arget tina B. Bolivia ... ; C. Cyprus. . . . . D. El Salvador E. Guatemala . F. Honduras .. G. Indonesi i . H. Lebanon ... ... I Nicaragua. 3. Philippines K. Uruguay . L ; : - : Paragraphs Page 1—6 1 7—Yt ‘.22- LO8. . 7 2.2—44. - .7 4 -S 48 . .16 49—51. . 18 52-6 1 ‘ : 19 2—68 22 6 —74 25 75—77 27 78—84 28 85— i 31 92—98 34 •jc. —108 37 109—120 41 110— 1 14 41 115—120 42 :“.E/CN.4/ 1984/2 1 . page ii. CONTE 'TS (continued) Chapter . . trag 4ph5 Page iv. Other reports of enforced or tnvoluntary disappearances ueatt :ith in various ways by the Working Group .. l21—L4 . 44 V. Impnct of enforced or involuntary . . disappearances on the victim'S . . . family j47- 150 51 v i . Specific human rights denied . . . by enfothed or inv Luntary , . disappearances: the special rights of children and mothers . .. .. .. ., 15 1—l;61. VII. EstablishIIeflt of national bodies . : for the investigation m,f reports of enforc d or involuntary . . , . disappearances 5 9 V III. Conclusions and recommendations 169—179 62 IX. Adoption of the report 8 o 65E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 1 •‘ • H . . INTRODUCTION 1. In 1983 tb ' Workin Grdup continued it''a&ti ities ri d now presents its fourth report to tILi'eComrnission. It' has again talcen full accounit of the points made by representative c!uring the Uohim,issjon'sd Sat on this subject in ‘‘ February 1983. Sin e i s inception, fo11ok ing the doption of resolution 20 (XXXVIYbv th Commission oh hj. man Right in Feoruary l 8O'the oricing Gr6up has b en attempting to deal wi hT t is sensitive subject ib a praEtical way. The families of cfisap rs6ns t'a'&e baa ‘th ir hopes raised by the cr atioh and continua uoh IIf thW Gr6bp.' Cdv dmII Es ta t hict allegations of disppearancei have &eeh t absrnit dmay ‘at 1 1 't'ibitiall y Wave feared' that they i'zere tin 't blamed for t atcu e bf Eh &isapp 'raices Tb th extent that cases hall •be ri clarified (see ch & s fl r fIV) th r 1ativ s have n informed. Fo bth r' families the Group}sQo}k may h'a i ' b6ntrihut d tow ids infdnning them of what happened to their relativeL ' Yet ffiian ) 'unsolVeU ases remaiii. The number of new case in 1983 is about the same as in 1982. As for Governments, it is some yeai . since readers oei e r IIi tid d' hat the mere transmission of a case does not in ly th t any judgemedt' & ver'has1 b pn formed about it. Ml .th h s! ocdurred i that the Group hk a>i' ie lr;the sliegation, checKed that' i fIIl'is within the mandate and i d tb4 Wn'it d Nations rules of adrnissib iHty; .:.. certain cases are drbpped' a 'fhis stige, but all those ihich are ddmissibleare transmitted to the Government concerned, as the only authority able to carry out the necessary investigation. Further details of the Group's activities and its methods of work appear in chapter I. 2. There are two common factors khich remain, in some countries disappearances continue to occur, whilst elsewhere older cases have come to light. OEe Group's approach to all the cases has continued to be based scrupulously on the humanitarian approach, and this seems to have met with wide and increasing recognition. The co—operation of Governments has accoroingly, in most cases, been maintained or increased. Equally organizations representing the families of the disappeared have continued their co—operation and have made . . . various. suggestionsaimed.. at enhancing .the...Group!s..eff..icac.y which havebeen taken into account. 3. The format of the report resembles that presented last year. Representations from all sides have been summarized as carefully as possible, in order to malce the report more readable. These summaries contain no judgements or conclusions by the Group. At the thirty—ninth session of the Commission the statistical presentation in the Group's previous report as criticised, not without justification. So a new formulation has now been adopted which, it is hoped, t;ili he clearer. In relation to each country mentioned in chapter II, it is possible to see how many cases have been, transmitted, on how many the Government has given a response, ana how many have ueen resolved (that is to say, solved to the saLisfaction of the Group's judgement) from either Governmental or other sources. For some recent cases there has not yet been time for the Government to respond. 4. Disappointment has acen expressed in certain quarters about the paucity of results achieved. However, expectations of the Group's chances of success have to be viewed in the context of the problem itself and the limitations inherent in the relations of the United Nations with Member States. The Working Group has had to ..!dapt itself to these realities, and to seek to make progress within them.EICN. 4/1984/21 page 2 5. The effect on the families of disappeared persons, both in terms of violation of their human rights and the acute psychological problems involved, have been discussed in each preceding report, and more information is given in chipters V and VI below. OEe human factor has been extensively explained in previous reports. Even so, misunderstanding persists about the droup's methods of work. It i a prerequisite of all case—work in United Nations 6rgan that standards of admissibility must be observed; this incluues a requirement that sufficient inform hon should be avaiI ble to enable a Government to make appropriate inquiries. That is why, in certain passages in this report, as before; there are refer nces to eases in hich the source of the allegation is being requested to provide further information. Constructive criticism is. al IIys welcome and h Group is aware of the concern which arises where fully detailed cases are transmitted without any result. OE.is conc rn is shared by the Group and the prob lS will continue to be addressed, . . . 3. OEe conclusions and recommefldations at the end of the report express the Group's current preoccupations and suggestions, and should be read in the light of what is said in this introduction. Similarly, the report should not be read in isolation from the three earlier reports; on the contrary it is a supplement to them, and full account should be taken of the faur documents together. . . —E/CN.4/1984/2l page 3 . I. ACTIVITIES OF THE WORKING GROUP ON ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES IN 1983 7. the Contis ion on Hum n Rights in its resolution 20 (xx VI) of 29 Februar5t 1980 decided to establish a Working Gr up consisting of five of its members, to serve as experts in th&ir individual apacities to examine questions relevant to enforced or involuntary disappearances of person ;and to pre ent a report. In 1981 , 1982 and 1983 the Commission extended the mandate. :f the Working . , Group. The first three reports of the Working Group re' c n,hained in documents E/CN.4/1435 and Add.i, E/CN.4/1492 and Add.l and E/CN.4L1983Jl4. OEe report is submitted in .accordance with Commi sion res't lution 1983/20 of 22 Feb ruary 1983 uhich as approved by the Economic and Social Council in i s decision 1983/141 of 2 7'i'iay 1983. The meuibership of the Working Gro'up isa follows: Viscount Colville of Cu1ros (United Kingdom) (Chairman/R p' orceur); Mr. Jonas CD . Foli (Ghana); Mr. Agha Ffilaly (Pakistan); iw. Ivan Tosevski (Yugos1a ia), and Mr Luis A Varela Quiros (Costa Rica) 8 OEis year the Working uroup has held tnree sessions, the tenth session, from 13 to 17 June 1983, held at United Rations Headquarters, and the eleventh anU't fel'fh s s ibns, bath held t the United Nations Office at Geb'eva, from 26' to 30 September and from 5 to 9 December 1983 respectiv l . . 9. A ti 'L'i ne of, the oibhof the Working Group .ta t report it had before it a cof siderable voltune of information which hac not yet been analysed and since then a continuous flow of 1t formation on enforced or involunta y disappearances has been received. ,Jhe Working Group qontinued to review-cases submitted to it irid d&di'ded ‘to crahsmit reports on some 2,390 disappe ran e' to the Governments of 15 countries together with its requests for information With regard to those cases not transmitted to Governments, the Group either decided to seek further intormation from the source of the report, or found that the rs ort cLd not appear to fall uithin iLs mancate In addition, the Group continued to press for answers to outstanding cases transmitted earlier 10 During 1982 the Chairman continued, in accordance with the established procedti e, to transmit urgent reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances, received bett7een sessions of the Group and requiring immediate action, to the Government ‘ the country concerned' together with a. reqqes.t. tT ,at the, Government provid s ich information as it night uish Of the 2 390 reports transmitted to Governments mentioned above, ,sohie 555 were tr ismitted'iti.a'c ordandk ith, thi' :. procedure. As the presIInt report indicates, in a number 3f these ases the ‘ Group was informed by Governments and non—governmental sovrces, that , he p rson reporLeo missing had been released or as being neld in ofticially recognized detention. , . . ‘ . . . .. . . 11 The reports received by the Group Lere submittet by relatives, persons closely conii cted with the'disap eared ‘person or organizati.oi ”acting on their behalf The Croun has alco ieceived nformatior from individuals who reported witnessing the ar est or abduction of a missing person; or stated that they were detained with'missihg perscins in centres of detention, as ‘iell,as from one ,‘ , persdn who claimed, knowledge of disappearances from his official position in, the past.E / ON. 4 /19 84/21 page 4 12. The Working Group attempted to deal ith all the'reports of disappearances on which specific information was available and instructed the Secretariat to seek add .tiona). fnformation when sufficient deta .ls were not received. Bearing in mInd the objective of clarifying cases through investigations and making eff cientus of national investigation resources, the Group seLected for transmissipn to Governments only those casks forwhich there was factual material on which an investigation could be based. This method of work c n result in a discrepancy between the number of disappearances reported by. the Working Group with regard to a given country and the number reported elsewhere. Consideration has been giveii to an attempt t.o isolate the figures relevant to . l 83 in the st tistics; this has proved impossible, since, for examp le, certain cases resolved in 1983 were transmitted in 1982 or earlier. OEe figures therefore represent the totality of the Group's work. ... 13. As in the past, the informatIon received from Governments regarding cases., ,rif disappearances was sent on to the reLatives concerned; and their attention as ca led to the Coiptission's request for discretion as to the useQ.f such info a ion. Summaries of thg reports sent to Governments and copies .of .the information provided by them are available wtth the Secretariat for consultation by members of the Commission.. ,.. . . . , 14. During its t nth, eleventh and twelfth sessions, the .ldorking Group met representatiyesof the f'ollov4ng States; Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragda the Philippines, liruguay,and Zaire. . 15. During its tenth' and eleventh sessions the Working Group met , , . representatives of the following organizations or associnions airectly . . concerned by reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances: Latin American ‘ Federation of Associations for Relatives of DisappearedTDetainees (FEDEFAN);,, :.. Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Argentina); Committee for Justice and. Fe ce (Guatemala); Guatemalar. Commission on Human Rights; Committee of Relatives of . D tIIined, ‘bis p e r d nd Abd ifi P i&xII I I LebIIi6n AiIIo. I I6rf of t1ad 'es of iissing Uruguyans. The Working Group also received written information from , these and from other organizations or associations directly concerned by reports enforced or involuntary disappearances. In response to an invitation from “ .ne Latin American Federation of Associations f,or Re1 tives of , , . . . Disappeared—Detainees (FEDEFAN), one member of the Group attended the Fourth Congress of FEDEFAMi.t Mexico City (13 to 19 Novemb r l9 3) on the Group's . . behalf and report d66 the Congress to the Group . i. s twelfth session. . 16. During the CommIs i'on s discussion'of the Working Group's last report and in subsequent written statements and meetings with the Working Group, . .. organizations of relatives of disappeared persons, non—governmental organizations in consultative status and some Governments expressed criticism of certain aspects of the Group's work. Disappointment was expressed that so few cases had been clarified and i was felt that the optimistic tone of the Group's last report was unrealistic. The relatives of the disappeared were increasingly frustra d; prior to coming to y_he'Worlcing Group they had already carried out exhaustive and fruitl.ess searches and even in the face of all the evidence ;hat it ‘.ias h'zmanly p'ossibl to produce, ‘they had received a standardized answer from Governments that there was nc record of their loved—one's detention. The Working Group r ceived no better answers from the Governments but nevertheless gave positive value in its report to these unsatisfactory responses. On theE/CN.4/1984/2 1.. page 5 other hapd, the Working Group appeared to doubt the information provided by the relatives and,. in asking them fpr more information, placed the Lurden of investigation.on the f mi.l4. . rather than on the Coverxirneht where it belonged. The ;rep9xt lac:ed a human d .,tensjn; the •tnhIezes of relatives' statements had helped to balance the first two. reports but were missing from the hird report. The ise of statistics elso tenaed ro dehumanize t , ipp oach to disappeardnces. It as feared that the present trend t'ould lead to the institutionalization of the pr.actige of disappearaflce3. The Working Group's proposal in its sast epoE. not to,ta.ke . urther action on the cases from Mexico was especially iticized. It ‘as pointed out that the 73 c.. ses kere dl documentec, that at most only one case had been clarified, that the relatives had not redeived the promised . information from IIe Government an d that .evi.dence existed that the aisappeared . persons..were stjll...alive. Itwas.suggested that the investigations s hould be intensified 1 confidence in the Group s fairness and methods as it stake 17. It was stressed that the need for the international community to deal effectively--with the.phenomenon of “disappearances” was as urgent nbw as the Group had been established OEe Working Group could help by taking action to discover where the missing persons were and to prevent future dis pp aranc s; such action would help restore confidence. It was suggested that the Working Group evaluate objectively the intormation received from Governments nd intorm the Commission accordingly In those cases where substantive co—operation was not forthcoming.•fr.om the Government, it tIns suggested th t the Group s files e : publicly transmitted to the Commission for appropriate follbw—up, in dcordIIice with other United Nations procedures. It was considered important for the Working Group to make specific recommendations to the Commission; three were suggested by one organization: (a) Enforced or involuntary disappearances should be declared a crime against humanity; (b) Impartial and exhaustive investigations should oe carried out on the national level anci those responsible punished; and (c) a major international campaign against disappearances should be launched hy the United flations. More detaileu suggestions for action on the national level were received as well as for criteria to determine whether an investigation on the national level was adequate (see chapter VII below). 18. . The Working..Group studiedwitheare the opinions-regarding 5 work and the suggestions for improvement, and some of IIe results of this consideration are reflected in the introduction and in the conclusions and recommendations. c- 19. The Working Group's previous reports contained expressions of. concern oy non—governmental organizations, associations of relatives of missing persons and family members about the safety of persons actively engaged in the search for missing persons and in providing information on disappearances. This is a very real issue. The Working Group was greatly uistressed to learn of the death of the President of the El Salvador Commission on Human Rights, Warianella Garcia Villas, who had net the WorKing Group on several occasions to provide information and transmit the concerns of relatives. Persons missing as a result of international cirmed conflict 20. In the Group's 1983 report, reference was made to a request that investigations should be made into the fate of persons missing as a result of an internatidnal armed conflict.!! ihe matter drose out of the conflict between ! / E,'CN.4,'1983,1l4, paras. 118—120E/CN.4/1984/21 page 6 the Islamic Republic of Iran nd Iraq. The Working Group's report providec information describing the rote of the International Committee of the Red Cross in such circumstances, relating as it uoes ooth to combatants and to the civilian populations involved, under the Third and Fburth Gecteva Conventions of 1949.. Since then further requests for assistance have been r ceived Erom an organization of famili?s of those missing in the South Atlantic war in 1982 an some of the cases arising from recet t events .n Southern Lebanon ure similar. In both the latter situations the International Committee of the Red Cross has again been conducting its normaL activities; certain governmental information has also been made ayailable to relatives in Argentina. . . . 21. In its last report the Group sought guidance from Lhe Commission on the extent of its mandate in such situations. n June 1983, the Group received a renewed request and at its tenth session (June 1983) it analysed the debate on its work which had occurred at the thirtrnitith session of the Commission on Human Rights. In particular it ciiscussed the question of it involvemen with victims of international armed conflicts in view of the existing jurisciction of L/ the International Committee of the Red Cross UCRC) in such c ses Since there was no express guidance from the Commission, the Working Grotip fook th view that it was not within its competence under its present m nd te to ini 9 ui e into disappearance arising in such circumstances unless itwas exp esslYdirected to do so by the Commission. It noted the equests made fot its assishdnce in three such sitUdtiOns and the material presented to it will remain in the files CE/CN.4/1984/2 1 “ page 7 . ‘ , . . I i. INSTANCES IN WHICH MORE THAN 20 REPORTS OF ENFORCED : . : : INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED . . . . ‘ BY THE WORKING' GROUP TO A GOVERNMENT . . . . . . A. Argentina .“ : : ‘ Informatioh reviewed and transmitted to thd Government : . . . . 22. The Working G oup provided the'Commission with informatiab on enforced or involuntary disappearances in Argentina in its reports to the thirty—sevei th, !,‘ thirty—eighth and thirty—ninth sessions of the Commission on Human Rights.!! At the time of the extension of ‘its”mandate, the Group had I 1at e numb 'of un hal s' a eports id'its filei arid ince ben a few reports have been receii ed” which refer t a events' in prior a 's' The Working Group's files still contaii a small b kOEgof tfnexamine'd cases.'' During 1983 the Working Gtbup, revie4 ed ‘ahd transmitted.: tb the'GoverIInent' the fil s on 1,131 cases of' repoi-t'ed . . ‘ ‘ , .‘ disapp eara ces. “With' regard td a number of other cases the Group decided' ithe to request further information from the sources, or that' they did not appear to' ' fall with .n the limits of its mandate,. , 23. OEe'repo?ts transmitted to the Go' ernment coiit in&d for the'most ‘part' ‘ ‘ deaf stat'em nts as to the date,' time atkd place of'the' missing' rson's arrest, ‘ the authoriti s responsible nd t'tatemeiits or indic tibhs th the'arr t ‘w ‘“ witnessed.H ‘In some cases, althbugh ‘few' a'r'na' details' llere pravided on the “ actual arrest, other elements of” iitvest'igatibn w te' made' avai1 ble, such as ‘ infor mation that official' earch s for the fussing ‘person had been tarried' out : in close ‘cbnnection with ‘the cIisapp a'rance'”or that the pers6n had been seen ii ‘ custody'. H6'st af the IIissing persons we epoi ted to have been trested at': “ home, th ir plac of'work'b'r”at s c'i'fied public locatiouis.' It'was variously reported that th' ‘persons m k .rig' the t est wore military unifbtm's, identified theinselvesas members'of the security'forces, used inilitaty or blice vehicles and had occupied the neighbourho d'bi place where the arrest t ok”place fot a' period of tim ; in som ‘ases the tegular police ‘report 'dly tdfused to ‘“ intervene j/ In many cases it vas also reported that the missing person had ‘ ‘ ‘been seen ‘in” '' clandestine' d&te'ntibjj' centre. Inalni6st 11 aa s'h beas_corp' petitions and appeals to government authorities were reportedly made; in some, criminal complaints for unlawful detention were report d. 1/ E/CN.4/l435, paras. 47—78 and annexes IX—XII; E/CN.4/1492, paras. 33—52 and annexes IV—VII; E/CN.4/1983/l4, paras. 22—37. 2/ OEe forces most often reported as responsible for the arrest are the local police, the federal police, the security forces, the army, the navy, “commando antisubversivo” , military, comuined forces ( fuerzas con,jun:as) , State Intelligence Service 3 legal forces ( fuerzas ].egales) , military police, or the Federal Police Co—ordination Bureau (000rdjnacidn Federal). ‘‘E/CN.4/1984/21 page 8 24. Lncluded in the 1,131 reports mentioned above were the disappearances of 4 children after their arrest with their parents or other family members. Also among the 1,131 reports were requests for information received from relatives regarding the children due to have been born to 25 women who were said to have been pregnant when they disappeared. In that connection the Working Group sent reports to the Government from persons who stated that they had been held in clandestine detention centres (see ,,. e1ow, para. 26) with some of the. pregnant women; those reports gave d tai1s ‘on' the treatIIent of the wbrae ,the tn dicar assistance, they received and the persons respopsibl.e ,fo the children, after their birth. : 25 Since its estab1 shment the Working Group has transmitted to the Government of Argentina 2,508 reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances.;,. the haracter tics of' those, reports are substantially thet same as the. .:-. :.. . description given above. The years in which those dis ppearaqces reportedly occ urred were: 1971: 2, cases; 19)4: 5 case ; 1975: 76 Qases; . ],976: 1,144 cases; 1977: 946 cases; 1978; 254 cases: 1979: 36 cases; 1980: 29, cases and .198].: 3 : , cases. . . . ‘ . ‘ : . . . ‘ ! . • •. - . . 26. Ln addition to the reports from relatives on disappearances transmitted to the Government of Argentina in 1983, the Working ‘roup sent copies ct eight statements by persons who reported that they had ?eett secretly held in some of the clandestine detenLion centres in Argent ina referrei to :“ prevtous zepprts and in six entres not previously, reported, as well. gs in police stations ancL official prisons. These statements.referred t.&some.of the missing perso,ns . . whose case. had been sent o the Goverj ment and.... he,,Group.P 9 ped tha the .. , details contained in chose statements would assist the investigation The information contain d i. t , h,se eight statement I substanttall.y' thesame. as that described in the Group's report to tha Commi b1on at its thirty—seventh session legarding the; sournes of the statements.. o i c,1ande, ti,qe detendbn . . centres, the characteristics and location.s of the'centre , the, pe;sonne.1. : ‘ ‘ . responsible for their operation and the,.eventua4 fate, of the datai ee.es.,2 / To date a total of 54 su h r ports re 1atingt some 51 detention c.ent es, aye been tran mittedtp, tbe...Covern enc pf.A u 4.na and .IIe list of persons held ,i,n.: these: centres, repo ; gd byfoxm,rr$ie.taine s.,jtow,,qp t ins more than , lhS et7t.ries. I C t ‘ ‘ 27. During 1983 the Worki ig Group... receiy statement from a former . Argentine Federal Police In e tor who reported working in the office of the Minister of the Interior from April 1976 to January 1977. At its eleventh session the Working Group was able to question him on his statement in which he provided information on the arrest of persons by the security authorities, clandestine detention centres, disappearances, missing children and co—operation with the security services of other countries; there is genaral: but not complete, agreement between his report and those presented by former detainees. . 3/ E/CN.4/1435, paras. 56—62.E/CN.4/1984/21 ' page 9 Information and views rec ived from relatives of missing persons and their organizations . . . , . ; . . . . . Reappearance of mis' ir g a il.d+en . . 28. The Working CroLip has always given particular attention to..the. search for disappeared children, both those who disappeared when their parents w r arrested and those reportedly Dorn in clandestine deteafion”cent.re's:. , In its first two reports the Working Group provided information on five missing children whose whereabouts had been discovered, principally as .a result of : searches by their grandparetits:' (a:) Two children arrested with their par nfs in Buenos .A res: in September 1976, :ere ultimately found in'1979 in Chile — they had been aban.doned in Chile in late 1976 and placed for adoption with a foster family; the grandparenEs are now in touch with the children; (b). two other children (a boy of five months and a girl four years old) disappeared upon the arrest of their parents in ) uenos Aires in October 1977; they ‘. re. located by the grandparents in March 1980 whe n proceedings were under way.for. their adoption; (c) ifihe fifth child, according to reports in the:.Working Group's c files, was,born in a clai-idestirie detention centre to a mother who was three ‘ months pregnant when she ‘was arrested; the mother, accompanied:by':security agents, handed the hild to its maternal grandmother — the mother is still mis sing. . . . 29. In 1983 the Working G oup ‘received written information and.met representatives of the G a dmothers of the Plaza de Mayo who .reported th discovery, of a further'nine children: . . . . Case A . A si IIonth o1d girl disappeared with her rnp her .in :2ctober 1976 in Bu n6s Aires. Relatives requested information ‘from the aut'hotit'ie and the case was ‘transIIitted to “the Government by the Inter—A merican Commission on Human Rights. In late 1982 the Grandmothers ‘di over d the child who had been placed with adaptive parents a'i d the child's grandmother is now in contact , with her. ‘ : ., , ,‘ ‘ , , . Case B . Two children (a boy three years old and nis sister aged eight . . months) disappeared with their mother after her home in the . “ , province of B uenos Aires Province was raided in.Nay . L97 7.;. OEe , base was transituitted to the Government by the Workipg”Grpup,,in. . . 1982. The Grandmothers found the children in 1983 in: the careof a large ‘f'IImily' with limited resources who had given she.lt r to both children, the mother is still missing. Case C . A male child was born during his mother's detention. The moth r, . four months pr gnant, disappeared in October 1977 after her home ., . in Mar de l Piata had been raided. OEe case was ..t ansinitted to . ‘ the Goveriiment in 1981 by the ‘1orking Group. OE.e Grandmothers , found the ‘chilid in 1982; he had been given to a relative shortly after his birth together with a letter from his mother, who is still missing.E/CN. 4/1.984/21 page 10 Case fY •A' fb r— earciLd boy disappearec with his niother in June .978 in Buenos Aires. In 1983 a juvenile court judge in dSed th paternaL grandmother that in 1978 he had given custody of che child — who had been left by an unknown person with the maternal . . grandmother — to the maternaL grandmother's faIIily. The judge had beeffi informed since 1978 of the search for the child by the pate hal grandmother. The Court, ho'.:ever, gave no information to either side of the family. The mother is still missing. Case E . A one—and—a—haLfyear—old girl disappeared when the woman who wa.s , ‘ ‘ ta'king care of her was arrested (the girl's mother was in . . ‘prison). The child was left ith a poor family who had witnessed the arrest; the police refused to accept custody of the hild and threatened the family with being made to disappear if they insisted. The family fled and in 1983. — after a publicity ,. . campaign by the Grandmothers — a person .informeo them of the . whereabouts of he missing'girl; that' per on.was subsequently ‘ . . ,. attacked and spent a considerable time in the hospital. The district juvenile court judge had known of thechild's correct identity, the whereabouts of the mother and the search by the Grandmothers, but had taketi no action. The girl has. now been , .... . reunited :ith her mother. , , ,: Case F . A one—year—old boy disappeared with his' mother in August 1977 in Bueno Aires. The persons who arrested the mother had given the. child to a neighbour. The juvenile court judge gave custody of .,.,, the boy o a family which was not materially or morally suitable; the neighbours subsequently reported the ill—treatment of the ., child to the police. ‘ ‘lh 1982 the case was transmitted to th Government by the Working Group. In 1983 a photograph of the , child, puhlLOEec! by the Grandmothers, was recogni zed and they ,, , . ‘ were informed of the child's whereabouts. The juvenile court ‘ judge, when equested by the Grandmothers'to return the child to the family, ordered a psychological examination of the hfl4'? . . . . grandmother. The child has been returned to his family; the “ IIother is still missing. ‘ . ‘ : . The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mn o explained to the Working Group the meth.od.s of work they had used in searching for the missing children; they have repeat,e ly visited government ministries', courts, hospitals, authorities in charge of adoption and the registration of births, and orphanages. A publicity campaign with pictures of the missing childr&n was carried out and as a result increasing support from the general population has been gained. They have not had the help of the authorities; executive or judicial, in their searches and they have been the subject of repeated threats and acts of intimidation. The Grandmothers ‘emphasized that when a child was found, his or her best interests determined the steps to be taken subsequently. The Grandmothers still had some 130 missing children not yet accounted for; they requested the Working Group to assist them in findi ig'the ‘remaining children by: ‘ .E/CN.4/ 1984/2 1 . ; page 11 (a) Obtaining from the Government a list of. al,l births which were- ,,: : . ‘ ‘ . registered after the lapse of,the. normal registration per oddurjng... . . the years 1975—1983; thi,s would-help find children born in; - clandestine detention centres; .. . , , . . . . , (b) Obtain n from the Government a list of adoptions for th?,.period . 1 76— 1983. . . . , . Cc) Requesting that those children whose births in clapdestine d t.ention . centres were attested tp,.by,.writtei statements be returnsd,t,o their families; and . . - . . , . .,:. : : ‘ ‘ ;‘‘ . ‘ .‘ .. , . ‘ . . Cd ) Providing the Grandmothers with the -information in the Working., Group's files regarding births in clandestine detention cent es. 31. OEe Grandmothers report that in 1983 they presented several petitions of . habeas.corpus to the courts an behalf of children born-in detention. OEese petitions contained .s.igne4.statemerits by witnesse,s,'to the arrest o,f the pregnant. mother,, as well aS. stat.ejnents by perspns. detained with her which provide . , . .- information on the: jrt o>f,t-he ;hild.,,.,the.medi.aal doctors involved and on -the. officers responsible f.o r the. detention.centre. The Grandmothers asked the - : ‘ . . courts.to take a nu mber of spe.ific investigatory steps to find the mothers, and children, .includin .taking testimony from the medical-doctors involved and -from . : those responsib l .for the detention centres. , .. . ‘ , .,. . . - ; , Reappe rar c.e .o dj..sappeared detainees . . ; 32 An organization of relatives of missing detainees provided the Working Group withr a .zeport on the .reip.ase of parsops who had been missing for a .nunzher of years.;.. :t o.;.q4 t ) ,ese persons.,reported Zhat 0 -prisoners were still beiug , held at the clandaptine ,4 tentiqn ceatre forn wh c ,they had been released late in 1982 OEe o .ganization askad IIat the uetails be kept confidential to respect th.e requests of those corcerned who:•were faar ul of reprisals. Some of the names given were not on the list of missing persons, but in one instance the- Working Gro.up had transmitted -the case --to--the--Government . . : Identification of b jjes : . . . . , . :; - , 33 The Working Group also receiveci detailed information trom an , organization , ‘ “ ‘— of relatives of missing persons on the identification of previously unidentified bodies in a cemetery in Argentina As a result of th:e,.judicial investigation, . . 76 bodies; were identified, 20 of which had apoeared on lists, of disappea ed , , detainees, published, by human rights organizations.. The Working, Group transmitted one of the cases to, the Government in 1981 and the Grpup:'s files indicate that three of the 76 :had oeen seen alive in a clandestine detention centre-and. that ::‘ four others had arrived dead at that centre, ‘ In addition, some relatives pt ‘ ‘. ‘ . missing persons have written to the Working Group t.n i 1 nforni it of the - . , . . ‘ , :‘ :- . identification of bodies as those of their missing relatives. - ‘ . . -,,,- .. “Final document on the struggle againsc subversi'bn and terrorism” . . . :. - . 34. Since the extension of the Group's mandate, relatives and their organizations have repeatedly expressed deep concern at the failure of the authorities to undertake effective investigations; they expressed fear that recent decisions of the military Government indicated that it did not intend toE/CN. 4/1984/21 page 12 carry out investigations or would make then impossible. Reference was made to a paper entit1e ITFinal document on the struggle against subversion and terrorism”, published by the military Government in April 1983, which, according to the relatives, asserted that the disappeared persons should be considered dead. OEe relaUves drew attention to four points which indicated that the missing persons had seen arrested by government agents and not killed in clashes: first, thousands of persons had seen the missing persons arrested at home, at work or in public places; second, released detainees, who had been held in clandesti,n letentiop centres with missing persons had made statements to that effect; third', the recognition in the final document that the armed forces might on occasion have exceeded the limits of respect for human rights; and, fourth, the num e ous bodies of missing persons found ,in the cemeteries could only have been,,buried there by officials. ‘ ‘ .. . ‘ Amnesty Law of, September 1983 ‘ ‘ . 35. Relati e 'o anizaLionsalso referred to an amnesty law promulgated on 23 September 1983 by the milj.tary Government which the relatives stated would ‘ ( ffectively prevent inve's i.gations into the tihereabouts.of missing persons- OEe ‘act abolishes penal measures for all criminal acts committed in.order to combat terrorism or subversion i'n the period 25 May 1973 to 14 June 1982. It would also prevent persons from being questioned, . investigated, or summoned to appear in court or before any other body in regard to such acts, and further provides that no civil action can be brought in such cases. OEis law would prevent answers being obtained to such questions as: Who was arrested? By hom? Where' were they taken? What happened to them? The relatives! drganizations point out that the amnesty law is incompatible with General Assembly resoiution.33/17'3 which ca1i d f r Governnents “to qnsure that law enforcement and..security “. : , authorities or organizations are fully accountable, especially in. law, in the. .. ; discharge of their duti s,. such accountability to include, legal' responsibility ;. : . for unjustifiable exc sse which might lead to enforced or involuntary .. ;. . ‘ disappearan es and too her violations of human rightp”. Reference was also . made to resolution t Otxxiv) adopted by the Sub—Commission on Prevention bf “ ‘ Disciitiitiatibh nd Pt otectidfl of Minorities that States in which persons had been reported to have disappeared should “repeal or refrain from adopting laws which could impede inquiries concerning ‘‘ such disappearances”. The Group has been informed that in several cases of , bduction,,.judges, in two inatances from courts of appeal,.have refused to apply the law' on t,h grbunds that.it,is “irremediably null and void' t or “invalid”. : ‘ 36. The organizations of relatives have also made specific requ sts for improvements in the internationa . community's and the Group's action regarding missing persons. They requested ,, i t t particular that the United Nations and the : Working Group adopts resolution similar,to that,of the Inter—American . Commission on Human Rights of the Organizationof American States, which ‘ declares that it is the responsibility pf the.Argentine Government to.adopt the necessary measures to clarify and resolve the problem of missing persons. They also requested more resolute and effective action with a view to finding alive the missing detainees who have, spent years of inhuman suffering in' illegal and, secret prisons. . ,E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 13 Information and views received frIIzi the Government of Argentina 37. Since jt mandate as extended, the Working Group has received written ‘ . informa ipn from the Government (note verbale dated 14 June 1983, and letters dated.Z $ ptember 1983 and., 18 November 1983) and met representatives of' th “ Government at .ts tenth ‘and eleventh sessions The Government stated that it was aware oL the effort mada by the Working Group to analyse and deal with the comwun :cat lons transmitted aud stated it would study those cases thorough'ly It also pointed put that the lackof fresh allegations of enforced or involuntary disppearaces, save for isolated recent cases that had been rapidly teared i indicated that the phenomenon had ended and that the situation had r turned to” normal. .. ,, ?:, 38. OEe Government provided the Working Group ;ith a copy of the document entitled “Final document on the.struggle,,against subversion and t rrorism” and . commented on its nature; it pointed out r lta,t the document was intended to shed light on a situation which had affected th' country for a number of years It was not, however, intended to deal with individpsl cases; it was for public ( distribution and the Government continued tb believe firmly that, bth internally and externally, the information available on individvat cases should ‘“ be given only to the relatives requesting it. OEe Government's document was not, as it had been claimed, an atteII t by the armed forces to e'vad . responsibility for actions undertaken in combating terrorism: ori.ifihc contrary, it was evident from many passages in the text, that the armid fo ces a epted their share of the responsibility for ny mistakes, they mighi have mide in the actions, that had led to the defeat of the subversive guerilla movement. OEe docuniei it, should not be interpreted as an official declaration of the presumed . , death of all the persons reported to have disappeared. Such an interpretation “ had beei 3 ,given to a sentence of th document which read that “those who appear in list 'of disappear d.per sons and who are not in exile or underground are considered dead for legal and administrative purposes”. OEe representative of the Government explained that that sentence was simply informative, and was not a juridicaL decision applicable to individual cases; the Military Junta had not sough ; ;,.by rneans.of the document, to-derogate from the' legal provisions in'forc'e' ''' under.whiih a judicial decision was required before a person could b'edecla d missing and presumed dead. 39. . o.v rnment also estimated the alleged disappearances at 6;'ooo and stated that the figures of 15,000, 30,000 and even more had been ex ggerated by various politically motivated organizations. The figures given in the “Final document on the struggle against subversion and terrorism” of 21,642 terrorist incidents between 1965 and 1979 and 742 clashes between 1973 and 1979, in which members of the security forces were also killed, suggested that the unsolved cases involved persons who had died in armed clashes, or whose bodies had been found on the streets, and could not be identified; they were therefore buried as NW (unidentified bodies), The representative of the Government stated that the question of unidentified bodies or NN graves had been under careful examination by the judicial authorities, which had so far been unable to establish the truth of allegations that persons whose identity was known had been secretly buried in the country. OEat proved how easy it was to launch campaigns concet ning events which played upon the emotions of the general public.E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 14 40. Concerning missing children, the representative of the Government reported that the hypothesis advanced by the Government to the Working Group that the “ cause of disappearance of minors might be that the children were with relatives who, for various reasons were keeping the fact a secret, would appear to be , : . confirmed by reports concerning the reappearance of various children'•who had . remained in the keeping of relatives or friends of their families. In the cae,.(' of children due to have been born to women hb were reportedly pregnant at, the , : time of their disappearance, the representative of the Government infornied tkie:;', Group of the difficulties encountered in carrying out investigations,. point ing out that the pregnancy itself was an unproven assumption. . He added that the , Locat'fo bf h mother, who had reportedly disappeared', :was ultimately the basic prerequisite for shedding light on the allegation. With regard to the . statements made by persons who claimed to have first—hand knowledge of situations,places and persons and allegedthat official agencies had co zitted , offendes, the rdpresentative of the Government said that the.authorities had repeatedly pointed out the political motives underlying such claims and the lack of credibility of their authors;' the statements made in relation to reported ( births in captivity followed the classic pattern of alleged coincidence, of persons and places and interwoven accounts attempting to show that one story was corroborated' by another. 41. The representative of the Government stated that, since terrorism had been defeated, the problem of disappeared persons had ceased to exist in his country and that also facilitated investigations by magistrates, who had previously been hampered by pressure and threats from subversive groups. He also stated that 1983 was 0 yeat of vital importance' for his country, as it represented the closing of “a political era which had begun when violence was at its height and would end with the return to institutional normality, which would take place when the national authbrities elected on 30 October 1983 assumed office. He stated that the net Government', which would take office as a result of those elections, might wish to provide the Working Group or the Commission with . . . information or views on that matter. . 42. In a letSr' &ate&•'jS November 1983 the Government.of Argentina:inforn ed. i..,.. the Workii ig Group that Act No. 22.068/79, which had reduced the period.required ., for the presumption of death from three years to 90 days, had been abrogated. OEe Government further reported that a new law had been enacted, which established that the Executive would provide compensation for all damages , suffered as a consequence of offences covered by the Amnesty.'.LaW of September .. 1983.. ‘ ‘ : . . ...E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 15 . 43. The follbwiag is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances tn Argentina.dealt with oy the Working Group since it was established: I. Cases transmitted to the Government by the Working. Group .Cs:eE'para. “25'ahove) . . 2,508 . , . ,,;!,‘!‘ :‘ . . .2 1 ! :‘ ‘ : ,. : ‘.. : , . ‘ . ‘I I. Respon es r'ec.e:ived fro&'.the' Government relating. : ,‘ : . . cases transmitted by the Working Group ‘ ‘. 0 . . ‘I II. Cases clarified by information from. non “. ‘ . , . . . . . . governmen'tal.sources 4/ . . . , . : 17 44 ‘ .OEe Wbrking:Group. noted that' the.”installation of new President.of.' Argentina, following the. Oc, ober 1983 elections, was scheduled to take place orr IIe' day .fo'llowing the session' and the ‘adoption of it's ‘ report.' It' seemed inappropriate to speculate o'n”the' action to be' taken ‘by the ‘ new Government ‘in rela't;ibn .tq.the'”dases'o'f disappearances;' instead, ‘the Working Group;.hoped: to issue'an”add'endwiY.to' its report with ‘any new information. In this context,' the Working Group's files contain a large volume''of'information' oni which investigations by the Argentine authorities could be based and the Group stands ‘ready te transmit sny'o&- IIat: information'to.the Government. of Argentina. if it so:wi.she.s'. ‘The requesbs a'f xhe Grandmot jer's contained in' paragraph. 30 “ above, appear' to. benworth purauing. and at' the: present stage it ‘is. suggested .‘ . . that.':they.shoald te”direct'ly'expl:Qre'd by the family' members with the' new' Government. : ; , , “ C “ :‘. , .‘ :,,‘‘ : ., , ‘ •r ,: ‘. ‘‘ ‘‘‘ ‘‘ . : . ‘:‘‘,:‘r : ‘ ‘ ., ! ‘‘:‘ ‘ . : , . . ‘ ‘ :. : ‘ , ., s'''' , :‘ ‘ .‘.:“ ‘ : . ;‘ . “ ‘ . ‘ ‘ . ‘ . ‘,L',,'ri..t?: 4/ Persons released from detention: 7 Persons at liberty: 2 ‘ Children found: 3 , ‘ ‘ ‘ “ Persons whose death has been officially recorded: 5.EJCN. 4/1984/21 page 16 . B. Bolivia Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government 45. The Working Group provided information.on enforced or invbluntary . disappearances in Bolivia in its reports to the Commission at its thirty—seventh, thirty—eighth and: thirty—nint,h..SessiOns. ” The Working.Group has transmitted reports on the a llegeo disappearance L)f 32 persons to the Government of Bolivia and has requested information thereon. The missing persons, who are mainly students, workers, trade unionists or teachers, v /era reportedly arrested under previous Governments between July 1980 and August 1981. Most iere reportedly arrested in the city of La Paz, at their home, on the stree.t or at unspecified places in named towns or cities.. .Security forces, the ariny.orparrmilitarygroups were allegedly respoqs.ible. The Working Group received information from the Government and non—governmental :sou ces' c:larifying 13 o the cases : 5 persons had been released, 6 were at liberty and the de?th.,of 2 h.ad.been officially recorded. TheWorking Group was also informed cf.the. ( 3tahlishme1W in October 1982 of a National Commission for the Investigation of Niisappearad P.erso.n& ,i;. : . . . 46. At a meeting with a representative. of a non—governmental organization o.f . relativei of missing persons, the Working Group received info.rmation.on the progress made by the Ma:t.ional Commission for the Investigation of Disappeared Persons including its work.plan for the o e year , rip :. eginning on 1 February ;- 1983. The details are contained below in chapter Vfl. ... ... . . Information and views received from the Government of Bolivia 47. Since the extension of its mandate, the Working Group has maintained contact t.dth the Government of eolivia and met a representative of the Government during its eleventh session. Be assured the Group of his Government's commitment to respect human rights an d its respect for and appreciation of the work done by the Group. He stated that, .de pi e the problems facing the Government, thure was a genuine and sincere desire to clarify all cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances. OEe representative emphasized the fact that his Government was not responsible for the ( ,isappearances that had occurred during previous governments but that none the less it wanted to clarify all cases. That was why the Government had established the National Commission for the Investigation of Disappeared Persons in l982.&' The Commission has carried out its work with some success, but its main problem has been the identification of the corpses of victims. He stated that 14 corpses had been found in a cemetery in La Paz, but since there were no papers, identification was difficult; the persons responsible. for those violations had taken steps to erase traces. Finally, the representative told the Group that his Government would send it all the information as it became available. 5/ E/CN.4/1435, para. 164; E/CN.4/l492, paras. 53—57;.. ano E/CN.411983/14, paras. 38—42. . . . r i . ... 6/ E/CN.4/1983/14, para. 40.E/CN.4/l984/21 page 17 48. OEe following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Bolivia dealt iith by the working Group since it was established: . . . . . : :. . I. Cases tranIIni ted to the Covernm nt ‘h th Workiri Grdup (see j ara 45 aboVe) ‘ ‘ ‘ 32 . I I . Government responses ‘Total tesponses received from the . . Gov fnIIent elating to cases tra smitted . . Working Group (see para. 45 above) 10 (b) CaseYciarified by the Governoe&nt's . re ?pbnsts l / . . : . . . II I Cases clarified by information from : : non—governIIental &ources!' . . . . . . . . . . . .‘ . . , L . Persons released from aetention: 2 . , , :, Persons at libe ty: 5 . . , .. .. . ,.. ‘ Persofls whose deaths have been officially recorded: 2. . . . . In one report the Government stated that the person had not been arrested. 8/ Persons released from detention: 3 Persons at liberty: 1. . . . . . . . . . t : . . . r; . ‘. . 4.. . ‘ , , . I ; : , : :. . . . . . . . . . ,.. . :‘ —r i ‘b ; ‘ H .i :, :.. :. , . . . .. : . , . . . : ; . ‘: ; ; ‘ . •“‘: . :r: . .. ‘ , ..: .. ‘ :: ‘: : . ‘ b' . : J ' '' ) : ; . .. ‘ ‘a' :: ‘. . ‘: . . ‘ :E/CN.4/1984/21 , page 18 . . C.. Cyprus 49. The Working Group dealt with enforced or involuntarydiSaPPearan s in Cyprus in its first three reports.2! OEe Group transmitted inforn ation' on cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances received from the Government of Cyprus, the Pancyprian Committee of Parents and Kelatives of ur ec1ared . * Prisoners and Missing Persons and other organizations to the Government of Turkey and the authorities of the Turkish Cypriot Community.. The, Group also transmitted information received from the Turkish Cypriot Community on enfbrced or involuntary disappearances to the Government of Cyprus. The number of reported disappearances from both side amounts to about 2,40Q. , 50. At the Working Group's eighth session, in September 1982, it requested its Chairman to address a letter t the Chairman of the Committee on Mis ing Persons in Cyprus. In that letter the Group stated that it had formed the view that the Committee on Missing Persons provided not only adequate but also appropriate machinery for resolving the outstanding case . of disappearances rpm both. communIties Moreover, the Group said that the Committee's pure1yhumanitar] an N aims exactly coincided with its own mandate. The Group was therefo'r convinced that its role should not be to supplant the Committee on Missing Persons, but rather to give it all the assistance jithin its power. Thus, the Group said, as a practical suggestion, that it would be willing to send one or more members to join the Chairman of the Committee and its two other members either in Geneva or Nicosia, in order to discuss possible methods of making further progress on the problem. OEe Group expressed the hope that, if the Chairman of the Committee thought the suggestion helpful he would communicate it to the two other members. 51. At its tenth session in June 1983, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances had before it General Assembly resolution 371181 adopted on 17 December 1982. In that resolution the Assembly invited the Working Group to follow developments and to recommend to the parties concerned ways and means of overcoming the pending procedural difficulties of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus and, in co—operation with the Committee, to facilitate the effective implementation of its investigative work on the basis of the existing relevant agreements. The Working Group notes with satisfaction both that the members of the Committee have been making renewed ‘ efforts to overcome the remaining procedural differences and... that the Secretary—General and his representatives are assisting , .n that end avour. OEe Working Group's position, therefore. is to remain available to ap,sist, the Committee as appropriate. . 9/ E/CN.4/ 1435, paras. 79—83; E/CN.4/l492, paras. 65—66; E/CN.4/l983/l4, paras. 43—46.E/CN.4/1984/21 .. page 19 B. El Salvadb* '''• . Information reviewed and transmitted to the nment . . 52. OEe working Group's previous activities in relation to El Sa lvador a'ppear in its three eariidr reports..12 1 Since the adoption of its latest report, the Working Qrou has continued to receive and examine information relating to enforced' or involuntary disappearances in El Salvador During that period the Group ..tr n nitted to the Government reporttof enforced or involuntary disappeata ices in El Salvador (38 reportedly occurred in 19&1'; 119 in'l9 8 2 and 383 in t9'83), together with its reqtie'st for information. All these cases wei e. transmitted in accordance with the ui gerit ction procedure. The Gr6up aLso . contacted the Government regarding'c' es ErIIhsmitted in the past, in particul r . f when new information on the niissin'g persoti's whereabodts b' c me available. With: regard to other cases, which were not transmitted td'the Government, the Working . Group sought further details from the source or decided that the casedid not appear. to fall within theterms of its mandate. , , .. . . .. . . . ‘ 53. The rep rt of disappearances transmitted to the Gov i ffiment were submitted: : by the relatives of the persons alleged to be missing by Salvadorian human rights organizations acting on behalf of the relatives and by a non—governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. 54 In the ‘dases transmitted to ‘the Co ernIIent information was provided on.the identity of the persons reported missing (first names and family names), the.' . date and the exact location. of the arrest (most reports also indicated the time). In many instances th& age and the occupation oj. he missing person wete given;, the most frequenly reported occupations were student, worker (skilled and unskilled), and farmer (campesino) Most of the arrests reportedly took place at the miss ing 1 person's home or at a speci'fied public place, such as a market or bus station. Other persons Jere reportedly arrested at their place o work Most of the dtsappearances during the year have 1l gedly taken place in the cities and particularly in the capital San Salvador Each of the reports transwitted to the Government contained information about the persons responsible for e a es . Amotig th forcei dited zerd' the army, nation l guard, natipnaj. p .ice, treasury poii.ce (Po icia deliacienda) combined forces or security forces Many cases indica e that the pers'ans responsible for the arrest were armed and dressed in civilian ciothes Informati6n Qa5. lalSO provided about the vehicles used in the arrests. In some cases bfficial vehicles were used, in others the licence plate number of the vehicle was provided,, and.in ti1l othIIrs th vehicles had no licence plates. In most' of : the cases it w s reportqd thtt hgb'eas cdrpus petitions and visits to the offices of the security service h d been fruitless . 10/ E/CN.4/1435, paras;84—lOl and annex XIII; E/CN.4/l435/Add' ;l, ;p ra .U. 6; E/CN.4/l492, paras. 67—87 and annexes IX—XI; E/CN.4/1492/Add.1, p.aras. 11, 12 and 19; E/CN.4/1983/14, paras. 47—56.El ON. 4 / 1984/21 page 20 55. Since the Working Group was established it has transmitted 1,782 reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances to the Government of El Salvador as is indicated in the table at th' '• end ‘of this section. The years in which those .. . dispp an eS reportedly occurred were: 1971, one case; 1977, one case; 1979 65 cas s;'i9?9, 431 cases; 1981, 320 dase ; 19&2, 581 cases; and 1983, 383 cases. Info natiori and'views received frbm'organizations representing relatives of . : missing persons . . . . .. . . 56. “ ‘The Working Grpup in a me tin with ‘ representative of a non goyernmental orgatiization of'r 1atives of missing p tdons was informed of that organization's concern regarding disappearan'Qes in El Silvador. The representative stated that the practice of enforced or involuntary disappearances continued unchanged in that country, thit ‘s&ious ‘investigations haVe not been undertaken and: that past cases continued unres'oL ed. it was ‘ t ted that the most important initiative to. deal with t he problem of enforced or invbluntsry' disappearances' in El Salvador . ; had been the creation of the Special CoIInission for the Investigation' of .., ‘Political Prisoners and Disappearances, but that that Commission had dissolved itself on 3 4 january 1980 due to lack of co—operation from the authorities. OEe represep ative isd noted th 't'th Salvadotihn Govetnment was suppos dly . ,..‘ co—operating with the Workihg GroCip on IIany cases, but that in reality it was, merely subIIitting informatioti't'Jhich wa's air ady available.' Finally, the. ‘ . repre entative. stated that the Commission on Human Rights created by the Government, of El Salvadot had not mad any progress to'date' in working for the. disappeand. .. . . ,. J.; . :‘ . ‘, , , . .,‘. ;“ 1nfo ation nd , ved' fro the Gove'rment of El salvador : ,, . . 57. Since the doptib'ti'b'f the Wo*king Gro1ip's' latest report, :it hats.., received. information in writing' from the Government of El Salvador. Some of that informatioti was presetiE d to the' Cdnimission on ‘Human Rights at its thi'rtnin t41iA:: session by the Workint Group's Chairman in his statement introducing the Working Group's report At ts tenth session the Working Group met a representative of the Government' of'El ‘Sa1V dor ‘ n t 1d York and at its eleventh session it met the Permanent Representative of Et Salvador to dhe United Nations Office at Geneva. 58. OEe r' resen ' i' es of E1 S 1 ado ‘cate orica1ly' denied that their ‘ Government practised or tolerated enforced or involuntary disappearances and reaffirm d the'rr td 'rnm nt's”commi'tment' tb'full respect for human rights. , OEe. Working Group was in'torm d the' International Coimnittee: of ‘the Re,d Cross was. continuing its racin a:c i'vities in El Salvador and that the Government had , ‘ undertaken ‘to inform th' t o'IIr ii 't'io.n' systemati;ally of all arrests.' Further, a control commission had been set up ‘by the arme' l forces to deal with'any abuses, and teaching courses and conferences were organized to instruct the military on humanitarian law and the protection of prisoners. 59. OEe representatives of the Government of El Salvador placed the,, problem of enforced or, involuntary disappearances within the context of the difficult situation in their country They informed the Group of the Government'sE/CN.4/1984/21 page 21 efforts to establish democracy through reforms, and pointed out that a new constitution was being prepared, and that il ctions would be hejd in the near future. There had been a decrease ‘in the; iolations of,human rights in their country and the Government t s concern f r tE p otecticn of -huIIan' ri -gH- s aII : dembnstrat'ed b -the tablishment of a. governmental Human Rights Commission,• which was totally independent from the judicial and execut ve branches of the Government, and''had prepared' the: Avtmesty Law which was p pmulgata in 1983. The Comirission had broad powers with access to all detention centres n the country, and a6ul ' take up petific case-s ‘and even those in which. a habeas'dorp' s' petition had produced a negat”ve result The government representarives also explained the habeas corpus procedure in El Salvador. 50. In letters dated 3 December 1982, 11 January 1933, 4 Febru ary' l9C3 11 February 1983, 7 June 1933, 6 July 1983, 11 July 1983, 1 August 1933, 28 September 1983, 10 October 1983, 2l October 19, 3, 7 November 1983 and a cable dated l'August 1983 the Government-of El Salyadqr..transm .. ed, infornIItion on . cases ‘6f ‘enforced dr involuntary disappearances .tp. th.e Wo king Grodp. Further, by a note verbale dated 7'June l933r the Governmer t transmi.t- ed a list ‘ containing the names of persons who hadbeen released as a result of the AmII y Law, becau e some af those names mighthave been .in.the Working Group's files ad < missing persons. In fact, 54 were in the Working Group's files as missing persons and had been brought to the attention of the Government S .nce the tllorkin G oup was established it has received rep] ies. from the G v rnment f E1 ‘:“ Salvador relating ta'264 cases of enforceIIordinvoOEun ary disappearance ? it has'' transIIitted to th GovernIIent; the replies r.eceivpd contain the fpllowing information:! p' rsons arresced,and in prison: .119; penons' relea ed'from - . , detention l; persons whose deaths have been officially recordeci 2, and 52 cases on which there are no records of detentiop 61 The following is a statistical summary of the reports of entorced or involuntary'dis&ppearanc stint El Sa.lvador-4e,alt with by the Working Group since it was established I Cases transmitt d to the Government by the Working Group (see para 55 above) 1,782 : : . t;.-'- .• . . . . ...•‘— .— . . . .. . I I. Government responses . ‘ -E ) Tota1 tesponses received from th •Govexnment . ‘ . ‘l It' , relating to cases transin&tted by. the . . . . Working Group (see pare., eO abov ) , ‘ “‘ ,•, 264 (b) Cases clarified by the Government's responses.LL / 212 11/ Persons arrested and' in prison: 11.9 ,‘ ‘ : ‘ Persons released from:d'etentipn: , 91 ‘ Persons whose deaths have been officially recorded: 2.E/CN.4/1984/21 page 22 E. Guatemala tnformation. reviewed and transmitted to the Government 62 The Working Groups previous activities in relation to Guatemala appear in its three e,a lier. repor s.. .V Sinde the extension of the Working Grdup's mandate it has reviewe4 and transmitted to the Government information on 332 enforCed o involuntary disappearances reported. to hive occurred in Guatemala tbgether with its request for information; 13 of these reports were transIIitted in accordance with the urgent action procedure. With regard to dther' ep rts. not transmitted to the Government, the Group decided to request further information from the source or found that the report did not appear to fall within its mandate . . 63. Since the extension of its mandat , the Working Group has continued to receive reports of enforced or involuntar ' disappearances in Guatemala . The reports were submitted by relatives of missing persons, by organizations acting ( . on behalf of the rela ive.s and by a non—governm n al prganizatidn in consultatz'Te status with Lhe Economic no social Council The reports transmitted' to the Qove pment contained information about the identity of the missing person (first name s and: family names), the date and location of the arrest (some reports also ,in4i.cated the time). Eighty—nine of the disappearances r.epcrtedly ‘ocdut+ed in 1982 and 263 in 1983; the 1983 tonthly breakdown is January, 33, cases; February ,, 12; March, 8; April, 7; May, 12; June, 47; July,,25; Augu t, 16;,September, 5Q; October, 27; Novemb!'r, 2. The most frequenti reported place o:f t t 35t ‘was a town, the home of the missing person, or a specific public place. Some, ‘reports also c6ncern townspeople ‘whb were arrested together when Governmeqt security forces occupied their towns. , . , Most arrests were carried out by aru d men in civilian clothes, bysolidiers in' civilian clothes, or by security, forces. , The age and occupation of the reported missing persons ‘ere given in some cases, the most frequently reported occupations were ‘fa iner (campes'ino), teacher, professor, stude,nt”, nd socidi worker. Seventy—six of the reports transmitted t th Government concerne women and a number of the reports concerned mi nors. , OEe iaformation. concerning Guatemala is not as detailed or precise as that, made available with regard ‘to some other countries, because it is claimed that there are difficulties in C' getting the information out of the country. . , . . . 64. Since the Working Gro p was establi hed it has transmitted 1,3,82 reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances, o the Government of Guatemala as is indicated in the table at the end of this section. 12/ E/CN.4/l435, pans. 107—116 and annex XIV; E/CN.4/l492, paras. 91—102 and annexes fl—Kill; E/CN.4/l492/Add.1; para. 19; E/CN.4/l983/14, paras. 57—63.E/CN.4/b84 12l page 23 Information and views received from organizations representing relatives of missing persons,' r, . . . ; ,. . : ‘ .: : 65. During the current period of its mandate the Working Group received both oral and written information and views concerning enEorced or involuntary disappearances in Guatemala from organSz'atjons working . on beha.l'f of relatives of missing persons. During its tenth,..and eleyen,th. sessions representatives of Guatemalan human rights organizations met the Working Group. OEey stated that the problem of disappearances in Guatemala was closely connected with the counter—insurgency operations carried out by the Government. In the past, disappearances in the countryside had occurre& mostly in the departments of Quiche and Huehuetenango,.wherea the Department: of San kiarcos was currently the most affected; disappearances.a'Lso continued • n' the cities. All sectors of Guaternalan society, without exception, were touched by disappearances, particularly farmers, workers, labour las jers, trade unionists, university professors and students. Disappearances in Guatemala could not be attributed to persons fleeing their villages for the mountains; people abandoned their villages collectively while most disappearances ocdurred individually. . Fqrthermo e, disappearances also took place in cities and reports' of:' the arrest ( and disappearance of groups of persons were relatively few. The persons, ‘ dressed in civilian clothes, who arrested people who then disappeared, could be identified as members of the security forces by their weapons, the vehicles they used and the way in which they carried out their operations. Information, obtained from former detainees, was also provided on places uhere missing persons were held, mainly the military base in Petgn and the military base in Huehuetenango. Information received from the Government of Guatemala 66. Since the extension of its mandate the Working Group has received information from the Government of Guatemala concerning eight cases transmitted to it by the Group. According to this information, five of the persons were sentenced to prison terms (in one case the sentence was suspended) and the other three had not been arrested. . 67. OEe question of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Guatemala is a concern of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in that country and reference , , —. should be made to the relevant passage in his report to the Commission on Human K.. Rights. ./ . . ‘ 13/ E/CN.4/1984/30.E/CN.4 1 1984/21 page 24 68. OEe following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Guatemala dealt with by the Working Group since it was established: . . I. Cases transmitted to the Governnient by the Working Group (see paras. 63—64 above) 1,382 I I. Government responses (a) Total responses received from the . . , . Government relating to cases transmitted by the. Working Group (see para. 66 above) 12 (b) Cases clarified by the Government's . . responses.i J : ? III. Cases clarified by information from . non—governmental sources.! ” . ; . . . . : 14/ Persons in prison: 4 Persons at liberty: 4 Persons with suspended sentence; 1. With regard to three cases the Government reported that there were no records of arrest. 15/ Persons released: 7 Persons whose death was officially recorded: I .E/CN.4/1984/21 page 25 . F. Honduras Informatiofi'reviewed and transmitted to the Government . . 69. OEe Working Group provided information on enforced or involuntary . . disappearances in Honduras in itsreports to the Commission at its thirty—eighth and thirty—ninth sessions;2.&'. Since the extension of its.nandate the Working Group has transmitted reports on' three disappearances.as urgent actions; two reportedly occurred in March 1983 and one in iay 1983. These reports contained details or the identity of the missing person, the date, place and, in one case, the time of the arrest, dnd some information on those reportedly . responsible. Also during 1983 the Working Group transmitted to the Government a complete file on all the unclarified cases sent to the Government since 1980, with the request that it be informed of any results of investigations; these cases included the reports of the disappearance of four foreign nationals in Honduras in 1981. ‘ . . : 70. Prio to the latest extension of its mandate the Working Group had ( transmitted reports on 66 disappearances to the Government; nine of those case have heen clarified, two by information provided by the Government and seven by information provided by other sources. Fifty of the reported,disappearances occurred in 1981 and 16 in 1982. The reports contained details about the identity of the missing persons (first names and family names), the date and : location of the arrest (most reports also indicated the time) and some details ‘ about the p rson's responsible for the arrest. In some cases the age and professidn or activity of the missing person was indicated and the presence of witnesses was reported. Sometimes the location of the arrest was given as he place of work, a military barracks or places in the street, but in most o'nl' the “ town or city in which the arrest took place was indicated. The reports stated that the missing person had been arrested by,the National Directorate of Investigations (D.N.I. — Directorio Nacional de InvestigacionesY, the Treasury Police or by security forces. The Government informed the Working Group that two of the persons had been released and the release of seven others was reported by non—governmental organizations . : . Information and views received from organizations representing relatives of missing persons 71. During the Working Group's tenth session a representative of a non—governmental organization of relatives of missing detainees expressed his organization's concern over the disappearances in. Honduras. He said that a Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees had been established in ‘Honduras and had prepared lists of persons who disappeared in Honduras. It was requested that the Government, in addition to the general assurances of gdod will it had given, be asked to carry out a thorough investigation of all cases of disappearances. . , , . 16/ E/CN.4/1492, para. 106—109, E/CN.4/1492/Add. 1, paras. 13 and 19; E/CN.41l983/l4, paras. 64—69.E /CN.4/1984/ 2 1 page2 6 : Information and views received from the Government of Honduras 72. In letters dated 31 August and 20 Octooer L983 the Government of Honduras provided information on the three r ports of cases whiq , allegedly occurred in 1983 transmitted to it by the Working Group in the sarn& ye'Sr Ihie Gove.rn,:ient reported that':in twoS cases the persons were, before the courts, and in the other case the person had Left.,. he country and had given a' pr ss conference lit the Honduran Embassy in Gu .temala. That inform?tiOn had previously be n ansIIitted to the Uorking Group by a non—governmental organ -zat1on 73. OEe Government of Honduras, ma letter dated 31' August 1983, provid d' t ' information on cases transmitted by the Working Group during 1981 and 1982. ‘ ‘ : Since the Working Group was established, the Government of Honduras has provided the following eplias,concerniflg the cases transmitted to it: in 23 cases there . was no record' of' the person's arrest; in 21 cases the' reports were being investigated; ‘two. persons were before . the cpurts; one person had been deported; one person had reappeared in a neighbouring country and one had been released. <. With regard to the four cases of foreign nationals who had disappeared in ‘. , Honduras the Government said that .no entry into Honduras had been recorded for one, that the records showed that, another two had left th country and that the e was norecord of arrest for the fourth person. The Government further' ‘ stated that, i,f petitioned by r .lat.ivaS in accordance Jith the procedures ‘ established by the law of Honduras, it would ajree to th exhumation of'a body .:‘‘ belie+ed by some to be' that of one of the foreign nationdls. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ : 74. e.fol1owing is a gtat.isti al5um y of the reports of enforced or invotutitary disappearances n Honduras dealt with by th&' Working G o p since'lt was tab1ished ‘ .‘.‘ .. , , ‘ ,‘ ‘‘ . . . . L. ‘Case's tnnsmitted. to the Government by the ‘ . . . . ‘ WoTkihg Croup (see paras. 69—70 above) , 69 I I. Government responses ,, . . . (a) Total responses received' from the “ .:‘ Government relating to cases transmitted ‘ C ' by the Worki g Group (see para. 73 above) 53 (b) Cases clarified by the Government's • .: . : responsesfr' . ‘ 5 III . Cases clari, ied by information frot i ‘ ‘ . . . nongovernment sourcesE! : . 13 171 Persons who have left the country: 2 (1 dep6rted to Panama, 1 reappeared in Guatemala). . Persons before the courts: 2. . Persons released by their captors; 1. 18/' Persons at liberty:. 13E/CN.4/1984/21 page 27 C. Indonesia Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government . . I 75. The Working Group's previous activities in relatton to Indoi iesia appear in its three prior reports..! !! In 1980 md 1981 the Working Group tr nsmitted to the GovernIIent of Indonesia information on 23 reported disappearances t hich took place in the period 1977—1980. Eighteen persons reportedly disappeared aifier they sarrendered to military forces or were arrested or captured; one p' ts'on disappeared from prison and one was allegedly shdwn on television by the ‘ . . : : authorities prior to his disappearance. Most were reportedly connected 4ith he' Frente Re.volucion ria de ‘Timor Leste Independente (FRETILIN). . : 76. During 1982 he Governnient of OEdbnesia reported that it had ad further . . information td convey to the Working Cro .ip and that it had concluded ar ' agreem nt with th International Committee of the Red Cross (IC'RC) with a view to finding the facts reliting to the alleged missing persons as well as tracing them. The. government suggested that the Working Group should contact ICRC to obtain thd ap ro i-iat infdrma ion on the matter. In a letter dated 13 July 1983, ICRC stated that, following a discussion with those concerned, an infornIIi understanding had been reached on the procedure for invesEiga ing cases of disappearances. In accordance with this understanding, as ‘w 1l''as with ICRC ‘ principles, ICRC only proc ds t ith a tracing request from the family, ke'epin ' the Working Group informed about the prbgress of its investiga io'ns. . . results will be comrmiiticated directly to the family dnly. Given the above, ICRC suggested that, in future, a copy of any inquiry received from a relative with a request for tracing in East Timor, should be forwarded to ICRC and the inquirer should be advised to contact ICRC directly. Should' any prbgress' be made after the receipt of requests from the respective families, ICRC ‘ould inform accordingly. Later in the year the ICRC announced that it had suspended its activities on the ujain island df' East TiIIor . . I ‘ 77 The following is a statistical summary of the teports of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Indonesia dealt with b the Working Group since it was established ‘ I. Ca s transrnLtted td the Goveriirnen by the ‘“j . Workinj Gro up (see para. 75 above) ‘ 23 II. R&sponses received from he Government relating . to ca es transmitted by the Working Group ‘ , 0 III. Cases clarified ‘by information from . . non—governmental sources.&2/ 1 19/ E/CN.4/l435, paras. 117—121; E/CN.4/1492, paras. 110-113; E/CN.4/1983/l4, pares. 70—73. . . . ‘ ‘ 20/ Persons arrested and in prison: 1.E/CN.4/l984/2l page 28 H. Lebanon . Information reviet-;ed and transmitted to the. Government 78 The. Working Group informed the Commission..pn.. Human Rights at its: thirty—ninth session that in September 1982 it Fia4 transmitted one report of an enforced or involuntary disppearan.ce. 0 the, Government of Lebanon; it concerned the disappearance of a jounialist of the. IifiNA.Agen y who reportedly disappeared in July 1982.2!” The Working Group.h rec.eivad no..further information on the , case. Since the extension of its. mandate the Working Group ha received and examined j foroeation relating to enfp.rcad or inv.oLuntary. isaPPearanCe5 in :. Lebanon brought to its attention by reLatives, of the.persons concerned either directly or through an organization acting on behalf of the relatives of missing persons in Lebanon. The WQrking Group transmitted reports .0.0 205 disappearances , to the Government with its requ st for informatiqn.. With, regard to Other cases the Group either decided to .request,further information frorn;..the source •pf the report or found that ths..r.eport did not appear to fall within, its mandat . . In the cases transmitted to the Governmeilt since the extenflop of the Groups mandate, inforniaton was proyided on, Ute iden i. ty . .tP .per P9 . reported missing (f. s n mifi, and fami y iarn, date. .an4. Pfl of , . . . or disappearance and,, generally, informati on about. .t .ptr.sp s., Pons b.f .. . the arrest. In a few cases , the oc;upa,tipn of the per.s9p. .w'a also provide . One case reportedly, p ,u @Jn .195 ,,. hre gases.. in .l,';,. ne. in 1979.,. one in 1981, 162 in l98 in 1983. k.few ,p . he repo$ed,, i;5ain . persons were women. OEe reports ,al o 1.leg d that the petsons respon ibl, or the arrest belonged to the. .P a angifl Militia or Lebane,s 4rmy or it .secu'riZy forces; in ,.:. some cases the Is, ae ,l,i. .4 my was also reported .y. involl7ed.J,Tt he .,tqgether,, . . with one of theother forcas mentioned above.. Certain. repp.rts ,irdjcat d that “ the arrests were,,m.ad by ' armed men in civilign lo, .hep operating from vehi.cles. Most of the arrests were witnessed by relatives.,. friend& or neighbours and occurred in Beirut and its suburbs, in public places, t the home, or place of work of the victim or a military checkpoints whic, are sometimes permanent, and at ether times..mobile,....In a numbe Hof cases th relatives repQEt 4 that the missing person was arrested and taken away from the Sabra and Shatila camps in September 1982. In accordance with the Working Group's mandate, it has been ensured that none of the cases transmitted are alleged to. have arisen in the , Course of the international armed conflict in Lebanon (see paras. 20—21 above). 80. Most of the reports stat d Ehat the disappearances had been brought to the attention of the Prime Minister, the: 1 jfti of the Lebanese Republic, the Ministerial Commission estabished on 13 July 1983 to investigate the whereabouts of missing persons and the International Committee of the Red Cross. ., .. . 2! I E/CN.4/l983/14, para. 121E/CN.4/l984/.Zl. . . page 29 7 Information and views received from,organizatiqns. representing relat-ive,s of. missing persons . . . . . n : . .. : : 81. During its eleventh session, the Working Group met representatives df the Committee of Relatives of Detained, Disappeared and Ab acted Persons in Lebanon. OEe representatives stfled• that th r orga iizat.ion was established on 24 October 1982 as the result of a demonstration by women petitioning the Prime Minister for the liberation of detained prisoners..and news about detainees who were missing. Since then the Committee has established an office and its work includes calling upon all relatives of detainees or disappeared persons to provide the information they have in person at the office of the Committee; on this basis the Committee draws up lists of cases for presentation to the authorities. The Committee also contacts political and religious leaders, and social organizations on behalf of the prisoners and the missing, as well as the Parliament, the Government Office and the Presidential Office. The Committee also maintains cQntacts with the International Committee of the Red Cross, embassies and organizations, holds press conferences and organizes demonstrations. The Committee is assisted by a group of Lebanese lawyers who have established a lawyers' organization for the defence of civil liberties. Unfortunately, many difficulties have been encountered in these activities and the results have been very few. For that reason, and despite the very limited resources of its members, the Committee decided to send a representative to Geneva to appeal to the Working Group. . 82. OEe representatives of the Committee emphasized that their action was not based on a hostile attitude towards the authorities nor on a desire to protect criminals. OEeir only point was that the constitutional and legal rules governing arrest and detention were not being observed (requirenIInt of arrest warrants, for example) and that often the places of detention were illegal. Arrests for political motives were often carried out like kidnappings. The missing persons were usually arrested in the presence of witnesses and often at home; the Phalangist Militia or the Lebanese Army or its security forces were allegedly responsible. The representatives of the Committee provided numerous examples including that of ; 1adve f ne r pnsentflin who was missing. 83. The Committee had compiled a list of some 1,500 cases of disappeared persons which was only partial, since the situation in the country prevented parents frott presenting their cases. OEe represen atives gave details of the numerous steps taken by. the Committee with the persons responsible for the forces which arrested the missing persons; its dppeals had not orought any results. The Working Group was informed of the establishment of the Ministerial Commission charged with investigating the disappeared (see para. 80 above). The representatives of relatives stated that so far that Commission's only function had been to have the disappearances registered in the local police stations and that no prisoner had been released or found as a result of its work. OEe Committee of Relatives had asked to be associated with the work of the Ministerial Commission, but its request had been rejected. The Committee of Relatives asked the Working Group to intervene with the Ninisterial Commission which, its representatives said, had all the information needed for n investigation in its files.E/CN.4/ 1984/2 1 page 30 84. OEe following i a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances in Lebanon dealt with by the Working Group since it was established: I. Cases transmitted to the Government by . . the Working Group (see para. 78 above) 206 II. Responses receiv$2 d from the Governm nt . relating to cases transmitted by the . Working Group , . 0 . ,E/CN.4/1984/2 1 . - ,, .. . page 3 l ‘ I. Nicaragua Information, reviewed and transmitted to the Government :‘ L . :..,* :,,,‘ . 85 OEe Work .ng Group's previous activities in relation to Nicaragu-a appear in its three earlier reports Since the rene ia1 of its mandate in 1983 the Working droup has ‘tranSIIitted to the Government of Nicaragua; reports on 55 •“ , disappe'arandes ubmitted to the Working Group by a Nicaraguan human rights . . organization on bdh lf of the relatives of the missing persons. Of the 55 ,, ,. , cas s, 8 reportedly occurred in 1981, 33 in 1982 and 14 in 1983. Information. was prdvided onIIe id ntity'of the persons reported missing (first flames,; ,, . . family names), the date a id 1ot tion of the arrest and in many instances the age and occupation ere' given; the most fflequent'ly reported occupations were fanner,, -a miner, bricklayer, carper ter, and army reservist. The reports also contain some details about the persons responsible for the arrest: among hose cited are...the. State security forces, militias or persons in civilian clothes and many reports also state that the'perso,ns' were 5 t'ed'for.counterrev0lutZoqarY activities,,; . Some of the reports transmitted to the Government contain details about the places where th persons were held after- the arrest; . among the.; most. frequently.;v cited are the prisons of Puerto Cabezas aa4 Quinta Ye Many reports also indicate that aifier the ‘person had been-detained in- one --of the above- en,t oned ,,, places he was transferred to Managua 86. ‘ “u ing' 1980 hd 1981 th - Wbrking' Group transmitted 70 reports of enforced. .. or inv6lui tnt disappearances to the-Government of Nica' agua; .60 relating.to.. . -. .. 1979 and .lo:te1r ting. tb ‘1980. ‘‘ ‘‘Gove+nment.:of'.Nicarag.ua' informed, the Working,. Group of the difficult circumstances surr5 ndii g: the change in government, i i ; . July 1979 aii& seated that it t•as legally nd'mat'erially' impossible. to . .. - ,, . . ,. investigate the cases which had occurred prior to the end of 1979. The Governme nt did provide information with regard to five of the cases which pe- sons had been released, one-was-being held-for trial ; and in tio'ca es the inve-sti ation had' produced no results. ‘. In 1982 the. Grpqp transmitt d fo the G6vernment a ‘report- about the disappearance of a .Salvadoran . . fishing boat and its eleven—man crew in t 1icaragua in December 1981, the re1ati s ‘rep6 ted receiving information that the boat had- been seen- in a -. ‘ :, , , Nic raguanport, ‘that the radio had announced its s&izure and the missing . , . , ,. . persons had been seen in a specified prison. The' Government of El Salvador, : : suSiCted ‘similarinifotnation. In 1982, the' GovernIIent-of i 1icaragua- informed - - the Warking Group tha following' investigation's, ‘no information had been . obtaiii d ‘bn the ‘whIIieabouts ‘o the' fishing boat-.- - ‘ ‘ , . . ‘ . , . - : . 87. Since, the Working Group was established it has transmitted 136 reports of enforcS or idvoltintary disa p aranc.es to the Government of Nicaraguaas is indicated in the table ‘at th end of this section. The ‘years -in which those, - dis pearance reportedly ocdurred wete:' 1:979, 60 cases-; 1980-, 10-cases;. 1981, ‘ 19 cases 1982; 33 case and 1983, l4'case -. :--‘‘‘ - - ‘ ‘ - - , - 22/ - E/CN.4/l435, paras. 131—144 and- ‘annex- XV; E/CN.4114351Add, 1, par,a. 3,;, E/CN.4/1492, paras. 122—130 and-annex -XIV';-'E/CN 4t1492, Add;1'-para.- 14;: . ‘ - E/CN.4/ 1983/14,' p'aras. 82—86.. -, ‘‘‘‘“ “‘ - ‘ . ‘ : . ‘ ‘ ,.E/CN.4/1 984/21 page 32 Information and views received from organizations representing relatives of missing persons . 88. The Working Group received c i letter from a ‘huhIIn ‘Ei h s orgatiization in Nidartg1v 14hich staHs.thatdisappearandes in Nicaragua have increased since the state of &mergency was proclaimed on 15 Harch L982, and that most uisappearances result fi ommass arrests carried out by— ‘the security forces in the Atlantic and northerzr regions ‘of' the ctuntry.' A substantial nutnoer of cases concern persons of Iliskito brigin vyho were arrested on the Atlantic coast between. December 1981 .. and July 1982. :n)e letter also scdtes chat these persons are kept in detention for an undet ermined period bf time under .the pretext that an investigation is be-ih carrie t out; and that relatives are not informed of their whereabouts. . Furthe nore the letter reports.that the s ateof emergency has rendered ... ineffective ha' eas corpus proceecings and otheL iegal mechanisms used to locate misSing persons Infdrna bn add' views redeived. from the Go.ve nmenE Nicaragua... . . 89 Since the renewal of its r andate, the troraing Group has received inforoeat ion in t'nttng from the Government of ilicaragua, and a representative of the Government met the Group uurlng its tenth ses ion The government representative assured the Group of his Governn ent's support for its workand commitment to Ln,force respect :fbr- fundamental human rights. He also made some obIIer-tati6ns about - h Grbupt'.s report td the Commission ‘on Human Rights- at its thirty—dihth s ssihn, p ticular1y r taifiing, to the 70 reports of enfoxce or .‘ . invoIunty.dis p e' ratite that the Grmrp-had brought to his Government's --‘ attention in 1980 and 1981 Re t.ated ljat his Government hau already transmitted ample information chat dnad 1 also been made available to the Inter— A merican Commission or ham n t ig s which no lpnger considered those reports to doncern disappeared per.sqp . ..Tbe :repxesentatiye also pointed out . . that his Government had leady provided ample iiiformatiqn in writing (letter date:&';29 ‘November' 1982) .vance.rning the 4 reported disappearance in Nicaragua of a Salyad II f-i.s'h-i g ‘)at and;'j ts eleven roean crew and fhat a Government : representativihad met'the:,Groupduringits ‘ninth session (December 1982). With' regard to a relative's statement that tite Salvaclorans s.ere beirg held at the flcoyatepe Fortress he tat.ed /that it was. -no longer -used as a detei tion cen;re and : was currz t-Iy a museum. Qf:::the revolution. -Me gave the Group a photosopy .oe a letter trot the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nicaragua in which it was stated that Red Cross delegates no lotger visited the Coyotepe Fortress as it had been closed down in March1981. -The Cov rnment transIIitted the same' information in letters.dated and 30 June 1983. ‘ , 90. In'a'1ett r dated. 1:3 September 1983 the Gov rnm nt Eransmi tad information on the'two isan cases that the Group had first brought to its att ntion ‘on Z9 - May1981 and, at the Goveitm t'srgquest, ajain on 19.Hay1983 OEe Government reiterated the information it had trapsmitted on .31 August1981 and commented on the nature of the two reports. Concerning the first report, the Government noted that, according to the relatives, the missing person had left his home and never returned, he was reported to have been held in Coyotepe Fortress, a member of the militia reported seeing him in the ‘Zona Franca” (free zone) and. other ‘ information-placed him in anoth&r..:c'ountry.. In re ard.•to those allegations, the Government stat .;that Coyotepe Fortress was no Longer, used to,hold detainees; that members of the militia were r either members of the police nor of the armyand that they theiefore had no access to detention centres, and that if the person was in another country, chat country's authorities should be asted no' provide information. With r a 4 to the second case the Government pointed out that two different dates of arrest were given (June1979 and 2 January 198u), that no mention was made of witnesses to the arrest nor was a description of the persons supposedly responsible for the arrest given. The Governnent stated that in June 1979 the Somoza regime ,as still in power and that the part of the repdrt which alleged that the :rrest took place IIi 2 January 1980 in EsteU also indicated that the person was seen on the same day in the “Zona Francar (‘hee zone) in Hanagda hdwever, Man guh was 140 cilIInetres from the rural are of Esteif and transport in a single day was very difficult. 91. The following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or . , . involuntary disappearances in Nicaragua dealt with by the Working Group sinc ,i “ , was establi' . hed: . . ‘ : I. Cases transmitted to the Government by the “ Working Grou 1(see pards. 85—87 above) 136 I I . Government res dtses . . . : . ‘ . (.‘ ) Total responses received f om'the . :. : . . Gove *IIb ' relating to c s' s transmitted . . : . . . . by the k 6'*icing Group . , , . . (b) ‘Cases cla ified by the Government's . . , responsesiV . . . . ., , . , .3 . . . . . . , , , , 23/ At liberty: 2 , In prison: 1. OEe Government stated that N5 of the cases had been before the Inter—American Commission on Human Rights and that that Organization no longer considered them to be disappeared persons; in 13 cases the Government had n records of the person hating been arrested- . E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 33 . : . . :‘E / CN.4/ 19 84/21 page 34 . . ; 1 , . • J. Philippines Information reviewed and transmitted to the Government 92. The 4orkiTgGroup T s previous.a;tivities in relation to the Phili' pinesafd described in its earlier reports to the Commission Since the extension of the Working Group's mandate, it has transmitted repotta of )9 disappearances to the Government of the Philippines, 16 cases repoitecly occurred in 1983 and the otheis in. previous years (1.in 1979, 11. in 1980, 15 in;l981 d l6i i i 8Z). With rega d to a. number of other cases, the Group decided eithe tb equest . ,. furthei irformation from the sources or that they aid not appeat'tb fail viithin the limits of its mandate. . . . . .. . 93 The ma ority of the cases transmitted dealt with uisappearances in the ru i l reas.' Not all reports contained such ample descriptions as those relating to other countries but they aid include the name and family name of the person reported missing, the date and .pLace of disappearance and generally information onnationality and sex.,. A quarterof the reports gave an indication of the profession of the missing person, such as farmer, construction . contractor, fisherman, worker or businessman; two trade.Unionists and a lay church worker were also among those who had allegedly disappeared. As regards the circumstances of the disappearances, in most -cases the person was arrested at home, at his place of work, or during a. raid in the area. In some instances, details were given about the police or military forces responsible for the arrest, such as the Philippine Constabulary (PC), the Combined Security Unit (csu) or the Military Intelligence Group (MIG). ; in certain cases the names of the persons in command were also provided. In other instances, the persons responsible for the arrest were described as wearing civilian clothes, using military vehicles or they were simply reported by the sources as belonging to the armed forces. Inquiries addressed by the relatives to the authorities about the missing person's whereabouts had yielded no results. 94. With reg td to two of the 1983 disappearances (a trade unionist and a lay church worker), a non—governmental organization informed the Working Group that after their reported disappearance the persons had been presented to a court and ( charged with criminal offences; the Government of the Philippines confirmed this information with regard to one of the cases. 95. Prior to the latest extension of its mandate, the Working Group had transmitted 201 cases of disappearances to the Government; in most of those cases information on the circumstances of the arrest of the missing person, the place of detention, and the public forces involved was given and in some cases the existence of witnesses was reported. In 1982, the Government provided the following information on the cases transmitted: 38 persons had been released, 6 were free and their occupations given, 2 had escaped from prison. In 7 other cases, the missing person was reported dead and those responsible were being . 24/ E/CN.4/l435, paras. 145—149; E/CN.4/1492, p ras. 131— 137; E/CN.4/1492/Add.1, paras. 15—16; E/CN.4/l983/14, pans. 87—90.E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 35 prosecuted. With regardto 36 cases, investigations Fiadbeencar:ried out and it had Ueen established that the Government was not.responsible. The Government reported that investigations into 88 cases were being continued and that the Group would be informed of the IIsults. Finanily, the Covernmeffit requested more details on the tdentities of 24 petso srep&t d missing where the details which had been given were insufficient to permit an investigation. The Government provided information on the legal protection of detainees, on the remedies available for complaints from citizens ant on the difficulties of carrying out investigations in a large and populous country like the Phi1ippines H 96. Since the Working Group was established it has transmitded 260 reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances to the Government of the Philippines as is indicated in the table at th end of this section. The years n which those disppearances reportedly occurtedw re ; i975; 7 ckses;197&, 46 cases; 1977, 28 cases; 1978, 32 cases; 1979, 50 cases; 1980, 44 cases. 1981; 21 cases; 1982, 16 cases; and 1983, 16 cases. - . $ . ... Information and views received from the GovernII nt -of thePhilippifl s 97. During the Working group's eleventh session it met the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva who renewed his Government's commitment to active co—operation with the Group and stated that, as soon as information was available from the investigations on outstanding cases, the Working Group would be informed. In a letter dated 11 August 1983, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva referred to four reports of disappearances brought to the Government's attention by the Working Group in 1983; one person was in prison and no information was available on three others, the three cases were being investigated. Prior to its twelfth session, the Working Group, in a letter dated 28 October 1983, informed the Government of the Philippines that it would like to consider at that session any information the Government might wish to send in relation to the cases which had not been clarified.E/CN.4/ 1984/21 poge 36 . 95. The following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances in the Philippines dealt with by the Working Group since it was establishec: . ,. i lL Cases clarified by information from no —gov ;poeenta1 source '.,, 52' ‘1, 25/ Persons released from detention: 38 Persons at liberty: 6 . Persons being detained: 1 Persons whose death has been officially recorded; 7. I. Cases transmitted o the Government by the . . . W •rki Group see pares. .92—96 above) I i. GQver,nplent resp rises., . . , . -.• . (a) Total respDnses. receiv ,from,the. Government relating to cases tra smitted . to it by the Working,.Group. .(sa paras . . .. . 94, 95 nd 97 donve),, . . ... . , (b) . Cases clarii d by the. Governoeent,.'s : . ‘ :-. responses 1 , . . . 260 ‘ 205 2 . : ; C,. , . ‘‘ 4.0 Persons arrested and in prison: 2.. E/CN.4/1984/21 . . . page37 . K. Uruguay . ‘ . Inforoeation reviewed and transmitted to the Gdvernment ‘ 99. In:its first three,i-eports,!L/ the Woi kinj...Grovp. informed the Commis&io !L about enforced or involuntary disappearances in Uruguay. Since the extensid ',df its nandate in 1983, the Working Group has transmitted reports concerning nine disappearandestoLFt'Gdve Sent of Uruguay; three occurring in Urtiguiy and six in Argentina Ith' 't'h&edases which repdtt dly occurred in Uruguay, the ‘ arrests took pl'a ce'iffi l983;'two of these persons w re later released and thefl third was locatcaiffi a'U uguayan prison. Concerning thesix disappearances . which ‘reported1 'odcurred ‘in Argentina, five bf the persons were arrested in 1977 and one in 1978. In four of the six cases, the missing petson was . reportedly seen by former detainees in detention cei 'tres under the authoritSi'of ‘U'ruguayan militar Hpersonnel and in two ases inforiIItior wa pIIvided on the traffisfer of the missing person to Uruguay. ‘: . 100. Since it tqas'established, the Working Group haII &ansIIi'tted'rep6rts dn the disappearII rce of 43 persons to the Governm nt of Uruguay; 19 of tho e allegedly occurred in Uruguay and 24 outside that country (22 in Argentina and' 2 in Paraguay)'. OEdc'edrs in which these disappearances took place are: in 1974, 1; in 1975, 2;i'n 1976, 11; in 1977, lb; in 1978', 7; in 1580, 2; in 1981', 1; and 3 i . 1983; Inthose cases occurring outside Uruguay the missing person ‘w s' reported to have Uruguayan nationality and to have been arrested orhe 1d iit detention by Uruguayan security forces. OEe Government informed the Working , Group that ‘the two persons who were reported to have disappeared II gii y fry' 1980 were' beiffig held in prison. ‘ . ‘ , ‘ ‘,‘ . ‘ , ‘ , ‘ ,, ‘ . ‘ ‘ . ‘, :: , ‘‘ - ‘: , ‘ : -‘ . 101. In 1983, the Working Group wrote td'the Governmentbf UrugiII'y nd revi w&d the information on enforced or involuntary disappearances which had been ‘ transmitted to that Government, reque ting clarification of those cases which had not yet b' n resolved. The unresolved cases concerned reports of th' • disappearance of 13 persons in Uruguay, 22 Uruguay n nationals in Argenti tI and 2 Uruguayan nationals in Paraguay. Ca ies of the reports of the disappearatce were also transmitted and contained information on the identity of the missing person, including his profession, the date and place of disappearance, and generally the circumstances of the arrest; the Organization for the Co—ordinatibn of Anti—Subversive Operations (OCOA) and'vd'r idbs ti)litary units” ‘ were epdrted1y' responsible' for: the arrests. In connection tiith” thos cases ‘ occurring in Argentina, a list was provided of reports by 10 persons who stated' they were held in detention centres in Argentina, that Uruguayan.officials were involved in the arrest of Uruguayan nationals in Argentina and in the running of the detention centres, and that Uruguayan nationals were transferred from , Argentina to Uruguay. With regard to the two Uruguayans who disappeared in Paraguay, the Group provided copies of reports by three persons who stated that they were held it 'the same cell in Paraguay with the missing persons'whbwere . subsequently tran ferred to Urugcay. In its letter, the Working Group hot'ed' ‘ that some of the above—mentione&reports of former detainees had been ‘ ‘“ 27/ E/CN;4/1435, paras. 150—163 and annex XVI; E/CN.4/1435/Add.l, para. 5; E/CN.4/1492, paras. 142—147 and annexXVI; E/C?L471492/Add.l, para'. 18; E/CN.4/l983/14, paras. 91—95.E/CN.4/198 4 / 2 1 . . page 38 taken into consideration uy the Human Rights Committee when it hound that Uruguayan officers had been involved in the detention of a Uruguayan national in Argentina and in the transfe.r.oif that person to Uruguay. . . : Information and views received from relatives of missing persor s ‘and their : o.rgarLLza.t ions. : . , . . “ . . . . “ 102. Reiat ve5' organizations sent the Working Group expressions of. their deep concern at:the Government's indifferencein the face of con&ete and ‘duly : documented facts ‘about disappearances. The. relatives referred to the' , Government's annduncement:.in October 1976 that 62 ‘subversives” had been: arre ted, but pointed out that! subseqdently the identities of'only 20' or thS had ever been determined; they expressed the fear that the remaining 42 . V. corresponded to the. 42 Uruguayanhatio.na15'arre5t in Argentina.up to October 1976: whose whereabouts remained unknown'. The . relatives stated that, in fact. up to October 1976 a total of 62 Uruguayans had ‘been arrested in Argentina; the . ‘ detention of 20 was subsequently officially acknowledged, as they were . transferred; to Uruguay where some were placed in prison and others were . released.. The United Nations High Cormniasioner for Refugees, on 20 July' 197b, had appealed.to the Government of Argenttfla on behalf of 19: Uruguayan' refugees including 14 who had been arrested in Argttina and we're eventually pl.aced in “ prison in Uruguay. . The relatives hope the identities anQ fate of the : 42 ‘ unidentified,”subversives 9 will be investigated. OEeir concerns wer 'brought to the attention of the Government in 1983. ‘ ‘ .. , . .‘ . . .‘ . . I :- !,‘ :‘ ‘ 103. ‘Relatives of two persons ‘who disappeared.. in 1975 and: 1976. in”Eiruguay transmitted to the Working Group two documents of the Human Rights Committee containing the Committee's view that the authorities of Uruguay were responsible for the detention of the.missing persons; the committeerequested the Government to take ‘e'ffectivest'eps to establish what had happened ta them. Therel'atives stated that no steps had been taken and asked the Working Group Locontinue its. consideration of' the' cases in order. to obtained th needed information. The ‘ Working Group tvansmit.ted these requests to the Gov rnment in: 1983 and requested any views the Government might wish to present. ‘ . .. roe Information and views received from the Governmen't oiUruguay . . , ‘ ‘c . ,:' .. :‘ ; . ,.‘ , ‘ ,. , , , 104. ,OEe'.Workihz GroIIp.informed the Commission onHumat Rights at its : , thirtrninth ession about the general and spe ific information r'eeeived fflom :‘ the Government of: Uruguay in 1980, 1981 and l982.,4!' The Working Group ,: , ,, reported, inter alia , that the Government had asked that disa pearances be ‘ considered within the context of the general situation and conditions' prevailing in Uruguay during the period of' internal turmoil and had's tated that, in fighting subversion, government forces had acted in accordance with the Law and that all criminals had oeen brought before the courts and judged. OEe Goverment asked that the problem of.missing persons be givenits' real dimension. Of the 100 or.so cases reported only 8 or 10 had allegedly taken place in Uruguay;' with regard to those cases, the Government was niaking every effort to determine the persons' whereabouts, but denied any complicity or 28/ E/CN.4/1983/l.4, pans'. 9394.E/CN. 4/1984/21 page 39 responsibility. For those occurring outside the country, the Government had made many efforts to obtain information and a special office had been es ab1ished to help relatives of missing persons. In addition to general infoima ion, the Government provided the following information regarding spe'dific cases which reportedly occurred in Uruguay: arrest warrants had been issued with regard to 11 persons who were still being sought; three persons h c been registered in an hotel far away from the reported place of disappearance on the day they allegedly disappeared; one person had Left the country; one had escaped from prison; no information'wasavail&b1 on another &woperspns and -‘ three people who reportedly disappeared in 1980 and 1981 were in prit6t ' 105. Since the extension of its mandate in 1983, the Working Group has received information from the Government of Uruguay concerffiing three cases ‘of disappearances which occurred in 1983 and were transmitt d to the Government. The Government informed the Working Group that two of those persons had been released while the third was in prison. In relation to a decision of the Human Rights Committee referred to in a letter from a rolative which was transmitted by the Working Group to the Government of Uruguay, the Government stated that it had informed the Human Rights Committee that the person was being sought on subversion charges. The Committee had subsequently adopted a decision which contained terms the Government considered offensive and the Government had criticized the Committee because its procedures disregarded legal rules relating to presumption of guilt and because of the haste of its decision. The Government continued to co—operate with the Committee, but objected to the specific action taken because no review machinery was provided for decisions which in some cases were taken without the usual guarantees as to evidence. 106. During its twelfth session the Working Group met the representative of Uruguay to the Commission on Human Rights who reviewed the full co—operation his Government had given the Working Group since its establishment and reiterated his Government's commitment to continue that co—operation. The Working Group had achieved important results and Uruguay had supported it in the Commission on Human Rights. In the past, Uruguay had provided as much information as was possible on the individual cases presented; the Group's renewed request had'b tn transmitted to the competent authorities in Uruguay and the response of the Government would be given as soon as possible. 107. Each individual case was a matter of deep concern for the Government. On the few cases which were reported to have occurred in Uruguay and remained unclarified the investigation remained open. OEe Government had given special attention to those Uruguayan nationals who had disappeared outside the country. OEere were 122 such cases unclarified to date and a special office had been established in the Foreign Ministry to receive the relatives' reports and assist in the search for the missing person. The work of the office included approaches on the diplomatic level and assistance to relatives in court proceedings in the country of disappearance; in some cases the results were , positive and the missing person had been found. A full file had been submitted to the Inter—A merican Commission on Hunian Rights showing the steps taken by the Goverment of Uruguay to protect its nationa1s' iho disappeared in other countries. With regard to the statements of persons who claimed that they had been transferred to Uruguay from a neighbouring country, some of those statements had been made after the persons concerned had been released from detention and had come to Europe. The persons concerned had been arrested inE/CN. 4/1984/21 page 40 Uruguay, some had been released and others had L,een charged and tried in court; today the majority were free. It was to be emphasized that Uruguayan security services, in the difficult period of terrorism, had acted to arrest the persons concerned and not to make them disappear. Those services were not responsible for disappearances. . . . 108. The following is a statistical summary of the reports of enforced or involuntary disappearances ia Uruguay dealt with by the Working Group since it was establ:i.shed. . , . . . . , . . ‘I . ; . case.s” transmitted' to th Covernment by the . . . Worlcing.'Group (see pans. 99—lOG above) 43 . . . ve.rnment responses . (a) Total responses received from the Government relating to cases transmitted by the Working GroupDownload Attachments: